A Better Tomorrow
by illminded
Summary: The Battle Royale is a program in which 9th graders are forced to kill one another till one victor is left. Four years has passed since the events of the original Battle Royale and now a new class is forced to experience the horrors humanity has to offer.
1. Introduction

**Battle Royale**

**A Better Tomorrow**

Introduction

"At the dawn of the new millennium, the nation collapsed. Japan's economy was destroyed and the severe backlash wasn't helping either. With increasing rates of violence among youths, the adults lost confidence and, fearing the youth, eventually passed the 'Millennium Educational Reform Act' AKA The BR Act."

A lone figure was sitting in a dark room with no windows or lights. Sitting on his lap was a gun with only a few bullets left inside. The figure stared straight forward as he spoke about the cruelties of his country.

"Everyone in this goddamn country is a hypocrite. They say they want to serve the future generations yet they kill more than three dozen kids each year. Sickening, isn't it? Whatever happened to equality? No one ever dares speak about it nowadays considering you could get killed for speaking against the government. What kind of bullshit is that, huh? You know the world's comin to an end when a young child, an eight-year-old, could say the government stinks and get his head blown off by some asshole. But I'm glad the world's comin to an end. Ya know why? Because with the world gone, at least no one has to suffer any more. No one has to watch their children, their baby boys and baby girls, butcher one another on live TV. No one has to go through the pain of picking their child's body out of a dog pile. Heck, no one would even have to go through the pain of listening to our fuckin leader spit some more bullshit to the whole country. Yeah, I think that'd be much better."

The figure twisted the cap off a silver flask the size of his palm. He took a swig of the liquor inside and licked his lips. As he took another swig from the flask, he heard a doorknob turn and a door creak, and quickly slipped the silver flask into his pocket. He realized the gun was still on his lap and hid it under his baggy, white t-shirt. The room suddenly brightened as an artificial white light illuminated the room.

"Koji, dinner's ready, come downstairs," a womanly voice said. The figure in the room turned his head to see his mom looking at him from the doorway. "What are you doing all alone in here in the dark? Is something wrong, sweetie?"

"No, everything's fine, mother," the figure told her. His mother nodded in response and closed the door behind her.

Sighing, the figure took one last swig of liquor and closed the cap over the flask. Taking one deep breath, he muttered to himself, "Everything's fine, mother."

_BANG!_

A gunshot rang throughout the small, enclosed room. Blood splattered on the clean, white wall behind the figure as his body slumped against the wooden chair he sat in. There was a hole in the middle of his forehead with sticky, crimson blood oozing out of it. The figure's hand hung to his side and the gun, smoke still drifting out its muzzle, dropped to the floor.

The door creaked to life once more and a window-shattering scream erupted from the doorway. Eyes fixated on the fresh corpse of her son, the figure's mother screamed for minutes on end. The painful shrieks escaping her lips drowned the pitter-patter of footsteps bounding up the stairwell behind her. A bulky, middle-aged man appeared behind the woman and put his hand on her shoulders. Sticking his head into his son's room, the man realized what his wife had been screaming about. Quickly, he pushed his wife out of the way and knelt beside his dead son.

"Call an ambulance!" he screamed. "Call an ambulance!"

Though she could hear him pleading to her, the figure's mother could do nothing but stare and scream. Her screams filled the room. No one could blame her, though, seeing as how her pride and joy had just shot a hole the size of a quarter into his head. She had high expectations for her baby boy; she expected him to graduate from high school as valedictorian, go to some Ivy-League college, then get a high-paying job to support her. But alas, the cold, cruel world took him from her, forcing a look of despair and grief on her face that would make anyone cry with her. Then again, who the fuck cared?


	2. Student List

Student List

Third Year Class A, Takami Junior High School

Student List

Males

1. Masaharu Morimoto

2. Jin Sanada

3. Toshiro Miyamoto

4. Hiroyuki Fukuyama

5. Hideaki Ikeuchi

6. Jin Yasutora

7. Ban Takahashi

8. Uryuu Karasu

9. Kiba Kurosaki

10. Ryou Kazunari

11. Ichigo Yagami

12. Kenji Sorimachi

13. Enishi Tenken

14. Komamura Tamayama

15. Saitou Takuya

16. Yamato Sakai

17. Ando Akabane

18. Yutaka Akanishi

19. Keigo Arashi

20. Tetsuo Kaneda

21. Hiro Kurosawa

Females

1. Ai Kanezawa

2. Aki Kaname

3. Shiori Yasutora

4. Asuka Ayanami

5. Misa Nakajima

6. Sakura Nakashima

7. Hyori Shibasaki

8. Hitomi Kawamura

9. Hikari Satomi

10. Haruka Ito

11. Kasumi Fukada

12. Mika Yamaguchi

13. Megumi Matsuda

14. Rangiku Fujiwara

15. Reiko Abarai

16. Rena Hasegawa

17. Keiko Benihime

18. Saori Takako

19. Mamimi Utada

20. Hikaru Samejima

21. Yuriko Kuriyama


	3. Chapter 1: Zero Hour

Chapter 1: Zero Hour

Cheers and screams emanated from within a large, blue charter bus exiting the school grounds of Takami High School. Nearly all the students inside were cheering as they headed off for their last field trip of the year. The school year had just ended two days ago and Class A of Takami High School was on their way to a beach resort a few hours away from town. Finally, their compulsory education was at an end. Also, it was the class' first time going to the big city so of course they were happy. Most of their other field trips were simple expeditions to the local aquarium or science center. Everyone appeared joyous and smiling. All forty-two students of Class A came on the trip, even those who'd normally skip school. Each student sat at a two-person seat on the bus. Normally, they'd take a simple yellow school bus for field trips, but the school board decided to go all out on this one. They rented a charter bus that was quite clean compared to the old, smelly school buses the students were used to. There weren't even any tears on the chairs or graffiti on the walls. However, there did seem to be a few scraps of paper and crumbs of food on the floor. It didn't really matter, though, seeing as how everyone was staring out their windows and not on the black floor.

The only person who didn't seem quite as happy or interested as the rest of his class was Tetsuo Kaneda (Boy #20). His eyes were droopy as his mouth opened wide to yawn. Tetsuo Kaneda was a short, friendly boy who was known as the class clown. He had short, messy, black hair that shaded his brown eyes and a goofy smile that made him look like a real clown. That smile was gone from his face today, though. Tetsuo was usually the one to make people laugh; he could awaken them easily with one of his one-liners. But today he seemed to be the one who needed an awakening. After all, he did just get out of bed less than twenty minutes ago. Tetsuo had a penchant for arriving late for everything; if one were to look at his attendance record, almost every day of school would be checked with a late mark.

Having closed his eyes since he stepped on the bus five minutes ago, Tetsuo opened them to watch the bus leave the school. His eyes blurred at first, but they soon adjusted to the dim lights of the charter bus. Though it was morning, it was too early for the sun to rise. The sky was a purplish-blue and made the surroundings a darker shade. Yawing once again, Tetsuo slumped back in his seat and tried to sleep. Unfortunately, everyone else had other plans. Shifting around constantly, Tetsuo decided to just stay awake and wait till everyone quieted down for him to sleep.

As the digital clock above the driver's head changed to 5:47 AM, Tetsuo looked around at his classmates. The nearest person he could see was his best friend, Hideaki Ikeuchi (Boy #5), who sat right beside him. Like usual, Hideaki was playing a videogame on his cellphone. He seemed really into the game since his eyes were deadlocked on the little screen as his fingers moved about rapidly over the keys. Seeing as how this trip wasn't a formal one, everyone got to wear whatever they wanted. Tetsuo chose to wear a light blue shirt with a collar and a pair of blue jeans while Hideaki wore his usual green jacket over a white t-shirt and blue pants. Thinking, Tetsuo remembered he had known Hideaki for nearly ten years. They met at a park both their parents used to take them to. At first, they weren't very fond of one another, but they soon warmed up to each other. Tetsuo remembered Hideaki saving him from some bullies a few months after they met each other. The bullies wanted Tetsuo's lunch, but he was too hungry to comply. They began beating on him, but Hideaki came out of nowhere and chased them off. For a six-year-old, Hideaki was quite tall and big at the time. As he grew older, he got even taller and bigger. Meanwhile, Tetsuo remained quite small and frail. Though Hideaki had the size and stature of a bully, he was anything but. Out of all the people he met in his lifetime, Tetsuo couldn't remember anyone kinder than Hideaki. Hideaki was the kind of person you could depend on when you needed a shoulder to cry on. He always seemed to be there for everyone and was well-liked. While he was kind and friendly, Hideaki was also shy and gentle. Many of the older kids picked on him for his big size and gentle heart. Hideaki didn't seem to mind, though, since he rarely thought of anything others said about him. The only person whose thoughts really mattered to him was Tetsuo's and Tetsuo's thoughts about him had always been good since he rescued him.

Looking over Hideaki's tilted head, Tetsuo could see Hikari Satomi (Girl #9) and Megumi Matsuda (Girl #13) seated next to one another in the seats parallel to Tetsuo's and Hideaki's. The two beautiful, bright girls had been best friends since childhood. Hikari's father was the owner of some big corporation that did business with Megumi's grandfather, who owned his own business. It was actually quite strange that they still lived in such a small town like Takami. Out of the two, Hikari was the smarter one. She had a plan for everything and a plan for a plan that didn't work. Luckily, none of her plans ever failed so she really had no need for backup plans. Clothing her delicate body was a pink tanktop under a white jacket and tight, blue jeans. Meanwhile, Megumi was the athletic one, the captain of the volleyball team and swim team. Though not at all stupid, Megumi was more interested in training herself for competition than studying for exams. Today she wore a white sweater and a pair of cargo shorts. The sweater appeared too big for her since the sleeves overlapped her hands. Polar opposites, Hikari cared much about her looks while Megumi cared more about her trophies. Not to say she was ugly, but Megumi wasn't as beautiful as Hikari. However, one look at Megumi on a good day and you could tell she could be as pretty, if not prettier, than Hikari.

Sitting in front of the two girls was Yuriko Kiriyama (Girl #21) all by her lonesome. While many of the girls in Class A grouped together in small cliques, Yuriko was one of the few loners. The fact that she wasn't very pretty didn't help her social status at all either. She had long, black hair that she constantly wore in two braids. Sitting on the bridge of her nose was a pair of glasses with wide lenses. Normally, she wore a plain sweater and jeans, but today, she wore a pair of green shorts and a blue t-shirt. On her feet were pink sandals with plastic daisies glued onto them. Yuriko thought they were really cute. Actually, she thought a lot of things were cute, though, they actually weren't. Unlike most of her female classmates, Yuriko had no sense of style or fashion. This led to many of her fellow classmates calling her names and making fun of her periodically. Hoping to stay away from the ridicule of her peers, she had hoped to sit in the very back of the bus. Unfortunately, it was already occupied so the seat she chose had to do. Luckily, no one made fun of her yet today; they all seemed too preoccupied with the thought of getting to go to a fancy beach resort right after graduation, but then again, the day did just start.

In the very back of the bus sat the biker gang known as the Capsules with its leader, Toshiro Miyamoto (Boy#3), sitting right in the middle. Surrounding him were his flunkies, Ryou Kazunari (Boy #10), Jin Sanada (Boy #2), and Ando Akabane (Boy #17). Leaning closely against Toshiro's muscular chest was his girlfriend, Mamimi Utada (Girl #19). The Capsules were a bunch of delinquents who frequently skipped school and went around partying, drinking, and driving their motorcycles all around town. Of the five members, Tetsuo knew Toshiro the closest. The two had been pretty good friends when they were younger, but something changed in Toshiro and he gained a new group of friends. Though he was pretty smart, his inability to show up in class didn't help at all. It was strange really, how someone so smart and friendly could end up a criminal. It was probably because of his new group of friends. Today, Toshiro wore a red jacket over a black t-shirt and black jeans. Running down the sleeves of the red jacket were two thick, black lines that reached the ends of the sleeves. Toshiro usually wore this jacket with its sleeves rolled up to his elbow, but he was probably cold today seeing as how they weren't rolled up. Two of the members of the Capsules, Ryou Kazunari and Jin Sanada, had been best friends since childhood. Ryou wore a dark gray tanktop with a white tanktop underneath. He also wore a pair of baggy, camouflage pants while Jin wore a simple black t-shirt and black jeans. The two delinquents were orphans and grew up in an orphanage together. They seemed like just two kids on the wrong side of the tracks, but they were much more than that. The Dynamic Duo, as most of the teachers called them, were particularly violent individuals. They both loved to fight and had been arrested numerous times for street fighting. Though all members of the Capsules appeared to love the thrill of backyard brawling, Ando Akabane enjoyed it the most. He was a tall, masculine young man with spiky, black hair and dull, brown eyes. Usually he wore nothing but a white tanktop and some shorts, but today he wore a black leather jacket, a white shirt, and black jeans. His favorite pastime was beating the shit out of kids bigger or smaller than him. He didn't really care about whom he was fighting just as long as they could put up a fight; he didn't even have any qualms about fighting girls. The tamest of the group was the only female hanging out with them: Mamimi Utada. Like the rest of the Capsules, she was a delinquent. She often skipped class, even before she met the rest of the Capsules, and smoked cigarettes like they were going out of style. While she was a sweet, beautiful girl, she was quite violent and had anger management problems. How Toshiro and the others could put up with her on a bad day was a mystery to Tetsuo. However, she was really cute, which made things a lot easier. While most of the Capsules were dressed in jeans and a jacket, Mamimi wore a short, denim skirt and a navy blue tanktop. Tetsuo thought it was kinda skimpy as he looked at it, but he didn't really mind. After all he did used to have a crush on the girl, but that was back in the sixth grade, which was three years ago.

Looking a few seats ahead of the Capsules, Tetsuo could make out the medium-built body of the most mysterious boy he'd ever met in his life: Hiro Kurosawa (Boy #21). Like always, Hiro wore a white windbreaker with a hoody and a pair of black pants. Across the chest of the windbreaker was a red stripe, and on the sleeves were similar striped going down. The t-shirt he wore, though, Tetsuo had never seen. It was a crimson red t-shirt with a black gun drawn on it sketchily. A recent transfer student, no one really had a clue as to who Hiro Kurosawa was save for Enishi Tenken (Boy #13), who had recently befriended him. Tetsuo heard rumors that he was sent to juvenile hall for beating up five kids at once and other rumors stating that he set his last school on fire. Many of these rumors fueled suspicions about him, causing most of the student body to steer clear of him. The way he looked didn't calm any of these suspicions either. In the locker room, Tetsuo remembered seeing Hiro undress for gym class. His body was quite muscular, but not bulky; it seemed to be the kind of build one would get from athletics. Tetsuo's locker was right next to Hiro's so he had a front-row view of the mysterious boy's scarred body. Running along Hiro's torso, from the right side of his chest to his waist, was a horrid scar. There were also a few other scars on his forearms, but none were as ghastly as the scar on his chest. However, Hiro did have a few handsome qualities. His short, black hair was rather neatly styled with several strands crossing his face, and his prominent cheekbones sliding smoothly into a strong but slender jaw. And though he had the looks of a dangerous thug, Hiro was actually the opposite. Whenever others would make fun of him, he'd usually just shrug it off; Tetsuo never saw him retaliate once. What amazed Tetsuo the most about Hiro, though, wasn't that he was soft-spoken, but that he was actually quite the fighter, a noble one at that. Hiro never fought for his own selfish reasons, though, but whenever he saw a weaker person or a female being bullied by others, he'd always step up and defend them. Lots of the girls in Class A developed crushes on him for his nobility and his looks, but none dared to ever get too close to him. The only person Tetsuo ever saw interacting with Hiro was Enishi; though, he could never hear what they were saying. The only time Tetsuo actually heard Hiro speak was when Hiro asked him for a pencil. It was only for a second, but Tetsuo could remember Hiro's voice so vividly. Not to sound gay or anything, but it truly sounded almost angelic and mellow.

Beside Hiro, who sat at the window seat, was Enishi Tenken, the son of Takami's Chief of Police. He was a popular boy, not like Hiro. In fact, he and Hiro didn't seem to have anything in common. While Hiro was soft-spoken and shy, Enishi talked a lot and was somewhat popular among the student body. He had good relations with the teachers as well considering how well he did in all his classes. Also, in fear of brutal retaliation, the school's bullies stayed as far away as possible from Enishi. It wasn't because they feared the boy's physical prowess; it was because his father controlled the entire police force in their hometown. By his looks, you could tell he didn't have much strength. Sure he was an unbelievably fast sprinter and could do more pull-ups that anyone in gym class, but other than that, he had no real abilities. In contrast to his best friend, or whatever Hiro was to him, Enishi wore a thin, black jacket with the collar popped. Down the front of the jacket were two white stripes that reached the waist. On the lower half of his body, Enishi wore black jeans and white sneakers while a simple white t-shirt clothed his torso.

Ripping his eyes off Hiro and Enishi, Tetsuo noticed the group of girls sitting in the seats parallel to Hiro's and Enishi's. At the top of the hierarchy of Takami High School were these girls: Reiko Abarai (Girl #15), Saori Takako (Girl #18), Kasumi Fukada (Girl #11), and Hitomi Kawamura (Girl #8). Being some of the most beautiful girls in school, they garnered the attention of nearly the entire student body. While they were quite flirtatious, none of them were slutty. In fact, they were actually quite chaste. Reiko was the leader of the school's debate team and could argue her way out of anything while Saori was a member of the swim team with the body of a goddess. Kasumi was the fighter of the group and had been in Tae Kwon Do classes since she was a child. Meanwhile, Hitomi was the frailest of the group, but she was certainly the smartest; her grades were exceptionally and she never got a grade below an A. Though the girls were probably the most innocent in class, they had an affinity for boys.

Right now, sitting in the middle of the four girls, was Kenji Sorimachi (Boy #12). What a lucky bastard. To the girls of Class A, Kenji was a handsome, friendly, and charming ladies man. But to everyone else, he was nothing more than an amoral pimp. He concealed his true colors well, though – almost chameleon-like – for none of the girls could ever tell what kinds of things he was doing behind their backs. Tetsuo, being one to highly respect his female counterparts, was disgusted at the things he'd seen and heard Kenji do. One of his "hobbies" was dating one girl from a certain clique, like say these four young ladies, and dating another girl from another clique. None of the other guys liked him either, but they couldn't really do anything about it. Kenji's father was the mayor of Takami and, since it was a small town, he could probably do anything he wanted if anyone got in his way or his son's way for that matter.

In the seats before the girls' sat Keigo Arashi (Boy #19) and Ai Kanezawa (Girl #1). The two made a perfect couple; Keigo was the star player of the basketball team and Ai was the captain of the cheerleading squad. It was like they were meant for each other. They were making out at the moment like they usually did during passing time in between classes. Obviously they had no problem displaying their affections publicly. Tetsuo couldn't see them very well, but it looked as if Keigo was slipping his hand up Ai's slim-fit yellow tanktop. Intrigued as he was, Tetsuo felt he should look away to respect their privacy.

Shaking the image out of his head, Tetsuo looked to the seats adjacent to the couple's. Seated there were Ai's two best friends and fellow cheerleaders, Aki Kaname (Girl #2) and Shiori Yasutora (Girl #3). Like most cheerleaders, Aki and Shiori were quite pretty. Aki had long, light brown hair that she wore in a ponytail. Her eyes were a fluorescent blue color – she was wearing those contact lenses that changed your eye color – and made her look even prettier than usual. She was wearing a white tanktop and blue shorts with a bright green hoody. Next to her, Shiori wore her black hair down to her shoulders with thick strands covering most of the left side of her face. A beautiful smile, one that could make even a demon smile, appeared on her face as Aki whispered something in her ear. Shiori chose to wear a pair of tight, denim shorts and a tan tanktop with a flower print on the chest. Though the three cheerleaders of Class A were always energetic, Aki was visibly more energetic than they were. On days of basketball games or football games or whatever, she'd wear the school's colors – blue and gold – and draw all over herself to make her own body look like a mural to the school. Shiori was the shyest of the three, but by no accounts was she shyer than anyone else. Seeing Shiori's beautiful face and nice figure made Tetsuo recount the time he slept with her. It was his first time, but probably her fifth; she was known to have had sex a lot. That didn't matter to Tetsuo, though, since all he cared about at the time was getting laid. While it started out great, it ended horribly. Tetsuo and Shiori had snuck into Shiori's room after a school dance last year and proceeded to have sex right there. Unfortunately, Shiori's twin brother, Kyosuke (Boy #6), entered the room and caught them. Shocked and appalled, Kyosuke ripped Tetsuo off her sister's naked body and beat the hell out of him. What made it more embarrassing was that Tetsuo was completely nude while getting his ass beat. After that, Tetsuo made sure to stay away from Shiori and Kyosuke.

After looking around for a few seconds, Tetsuo made out Kyosuke's face among the group of jocks sitting a few seats away from the three cheerleaders. Kyosuke was the captain and quarterback of the football team and a first-string shooting guard for the basketball team. He was a tough kid who loved chilling with his buddies and getting drunk every weekend. He made sure to keep his grades up, though, and did a damn good job at it. While most jocks at Takami were morons, Kyosuke actually had a high GPA. The person sitting next to him was his best friend, Kiba Kurosaki (Boy #9). Kiba was a member of the basketball team like Kyosuke, but had no fondness for football. Kiba was a wiry individual, who was quick and agile. The things he could do with a basketball amazed everyone. He wasn't very smart, though, but then again, that's why he had Kyosuke. In the seat behind them was Yutaka Akanishi (Boy #18). He sat with the jocks, hung out with the jocks, and went to games with the jocks, but he was anything but a jock. Strange, huh? He was actually the school mascot. In front of Kyosuke and Kiba were the other two jocks of Class A, Komamura Tamayama (Boy #14) and Saitou Takuya (Boy #15). Komamura was a large, heavy-set boy with a full facial. His appearance made it seem like he either failed the 9th grade way too many times or… well that was it really. Meanwhile, Saitou was a fairly lean teenage boy who was the captain of the basketball team. The leading shooter, he had a pretty big head, but what could you say, he was the best player on the team and deserved everything he got.

Though the jocks were talking pretty loudly, Tetsuo could hear others' voices much more prominent than theirs. At the front of the bus sat Keiko Benihime (Girl #17) and Haruka Ito (Girl #10). Keiko was the Student Body President while Haruka was her Vice-President. They were the best of friends and seemed more like sisters than friends. Everything they did, they did together. At the moment, they were sitting behind Mr. Yamamoto, Class A's teacher. Though not necessarily mean, he was a ruthless and strict teacher. Not many students liked him, but he was fair to everyone. The one thing none of the students really liked about him was his view of the government. Like many adults in the world, he agreed with the Republic of Greater East Asia. From the sound of things, Tetsuo could tell he was arguing with Keiko and Haruka about the government. Tetsuo was more interested in checking out the two girls, though. While they weren't very pretty, they had a sort of natural beauty that made them appealing. Keiko was currently wearing a pink sweater with a pair of white pants while Haruka wore a white halter top and blue jeans. They wore their hair in similar fashions – down with several more strands on the left side than the right.

Strangely, sitting a few seats behind the pair and the teacher were, for the lack of better words, the sluts of Class A. Comprising of Mika Yamaguchi (Girl #12), Misa Nakajima (Girl #5), and Asuka Ayanami (Girl #4), the sluts of Class A were just that: sluts. All three were fiends for sex and they didn't care if anyone knew it. They actually liked all the attention they got. However, most of the girls at Takami High School either disliked them or hated them with a passion. No one besides the three of them really liked them at all. They were deceptive, whiny bitches who used everyone for one thing or another. Tetsuo wouldn't mind getting laid by any of them, though, just as long as he came out of it clean. Checking each girl out attentively, Tetsuo could see Mika was wearing a dark brown top that ended just at her cleavage. It was sexy and Tetsuo wanted to see more, but the many seats separating him from Mika wouldn't allow it. Instead, he moved over to Misa, who wore a black tanktop that had spaghetti strings on the shoulders. She was slouching out of her seat so Tetsuo could see she also wore tight, white jeans. In the seat in front of Mika and Misa was Asuka by herself. Unfortunately for Tetsuo, he couldn't see her very well and could only make out her face and hair. Disappointed, Tetsuo looked away from the three.

Tired of watching his classmates, Tetsuo turned his head and looked out the window. The garden suburbs and aged buildings of Takami were transforming into towering structures with bright, neon lights. Street lights were beginning to dim while the signs of stores and fast food restaurants changed to 'OPEN'. Not many cars were driving along the road, but a few people were jogging down the streets in sweat suits with their headphones blaring. They had apparently reached the capital of the Kagawa Prefecture just as the sun began to rise. Regularly, it took about twenty minutes to get to the capital. Had it really been that long since they left Takami High School? Tetsuo's eyes squinted as he stared out his window to watch the rising sun. Listening absentmindedly to the low rumble of the bus engine, Tetsuo watched as life passed him by second by second.

"Hey Tetsuo, you got any food?" a voice interrupted.

Knitting his eyebrows, the goofy-looking boy turned to see Uryuu Karasu (Boy #8) gazing down at him. The agile young man's bleached dirty blonde hair hung oddly as his head tilted downwards. Alone, Uryuu had taken the seat behind Tetsuo and Hideaki, and placed his red backpack at the seat beside him as if he were saving the seat for someone. Uryuu was a sincere person, but he had a tendency to be brash and too laid-back. For someone who learned the discipline of some martial art Tetsuo couldn't pronounce, he was rather undisciplined really. Uryuu was also somewhat of a ladies man, but unlike Kenji, he treated girls right. To Tetsuo, he was a king among men and a hero among his loyal followers. Though he had a lot of power behind him, Uryuu never abused it. He was also trustworthy and charming, therefore, acquiring the attention of his classmates.

"Nope, I forgot to bring any with me," Tetsuo replied.

"Damn it! I need food! I haven't eaten anything yet!" Uryuu whined as he slumped in his seat. He was apparently very hungry for, even through the sound of the bus' engine, Tetsuo could hear his stomach growling. Realizing Ichigo Yagami (Boy #11), who sat parallel to him, was chewing on a dark brown chocolate bar, Uryuu grinned deceptively and leaned towards Ichigo. Tapping him on the left shoulder, Uryuu asked, "Hey Ichigo, buddy, you got any more of those?"

"Nope, sorry, Uryuu," Ichigo replied while his jaws moved up and down, mashing a piece of the chocolate bar with his molars. Ichigo Yagami was an honest guy who everyone could count on and trust. Uryuu didn't want to bother asking him again since he was probably already telling the truth.

Grumbling to himself, Uryuu retreated to his seat and slid down even lower. In an effort to drown out the awful sound of his growling stomach, Uryuu reached into his backpack to pull out a pair of large headphones. The headphones were black and were the kind DJs used during their gigs. They were connected to a circular, blue device with several silver buttons on it. Uryuu adjusted the headphones around his head and ears and pressed a button on the CD player. The sound of tunes from the '80s and '90s passed into both his ears. They were pleasant sounds, much more so than his stomach growls. Unfortunately, the type of music he listened to – rock music – was banned in Japan. So as to not get caught listening to it, Uryuu always put in a few classical songs scattered amongst the rock songs and stuck his CDs in CD cases for songs old people liked to listen to.

Suddenly, someone lifted the headphones off Uryuu's ears and waved a candy bar in his face. Uryuu, whose eyes had closed by that time, opened them and saw the candy bar in front of his nose. A bright expression lit up his face and he grabbed at the candy bar. Someone's gentle, slender fingers ripped them away from him, though, forcing him to turn around. Seated behind him were Sakura Nakashima (Girl #6) and Hikaru Samejima (Girl #20). The slender fingers that had stolen joy from Uryuu belonged to Sakura. Sakura was a beautiful girl who had a smile that could make any man's knees weak. She was also relatively nice and honest to everyone. Her best friend, Hikaru, was also pretty, but she was somewhat of a bitch.

"You want this candy bar, Uryuu?" Sakura asked in her seductive voice, the voice that had sent many men crooning over her. Looking up at her from his slumped position, Uryuu could see she was wearing a lavender-colored t-shirt with white lining on the sleeves and the words 'Hands Off' printed on the chest in white block letters. Hands off, eh? That's not what you told me last week, Uryuu thought to himself.

"Hell yeah I want it!" Uryuu shouted back. He tried to snatch the candy bar away once more, but was unsuccessful.

"You know, for someone trained to catch flies with their hands, you're pretty slow," Sakura teased.

"Well I'm starved right now. I can't do anything when I have no food in my stomach," Uryuu argued. "Now, if you gave me that candy bar maybe I could show you a thing or two that'll really impress ya."

"Oh wow," Hikaru snidely remarked. "You know what that means, Sakura."

Sakura giggled with her friend and tossed the candy bar onto Uryuu's lap.

Tearing the candy bar open, Uryuu looked up at the two girls with wonder in his eyes. Completely oblivious to what they were laughing about, he asked, "What does that mean?"

Though he hoped for an answer, all he got in reply were the girls' laughter. Shrugging his shoulders, Uryuu bit into the candy bar and felt the gooey goodness of caramel and sweet milk chocolate mixing together in his mouth.

"Thank God!" he pleasantly exclaimed, surprising everyone. Most of his classmates turned and looked at him with odd looks on their faces. Uryuu simply stared back and asked, "What?" in a loud manner.

After turning to look at his friend, Tetsuo slumped back down in his chair and looked at the rest of his classmates. Everyone turned around to see why Uryuu was so happy save for Rangiku Fujiwara (Girl #14). Rangiku was the most beautiful girl in Class A, but didn't have many friends. She had a few, but most of them were in other classes. Her only friend in Class A seemed to be herself. It was actually quite a wonder that she even came on the field trip. She sat alone near the back of the bus near Hiro and Enishi. Her eyes were engrossed by the streets and buildings that they passed by. Such a magnificent looking girl, Tetsuo thought, should never feel lonely or outcast. No matter how much he wanted to talk to her, though, Tetsuo knew she'd just give him her ominous blank stare for a few seconds and look away.

Out of the corner of his eye, Tetsuo could see a head popping up out of a seat and hear a slight shriek. Turning his head, he noticed it was Rena Hasegawa (Girl #16). Knowing her, she probably saw a spider crawl across the floor. Tetsuo had known Rena since they were kids and she was afraid of anything that moved. Luckily for her, she had her big, tough boyfriend, Yamato Sakai (Boy #16) to look out for her. They just started going out about three months ago, but Tetsuo heard they had already locked legs. It was strange to think of Rena doing it since she was always teasing Tetsuo about his cooties when they were smaller. As for Yamato, Tetsuo didn't really know him. Yamato wasn't a loner, but he never really hung out with anyone in Class A besides Rena. From what Rena had told him, though, Yamato sounded like a nice guy and a perfect match for Rena.

Snapping his head back, Tetsuo saw Hideaki flipping off the screen of his cellphone. Hideaki had said something, but whatever it was, Tetsuo didn't know.

"Why the hell are you flipping off your cellphone?" Tetsuo asked.

"Huh? Oh, no reason," Hideaki simply replied before turning back to the screen.

Shaking his head and smiling, Tetsuo gazed outside the window before his attention shifted to something else yet again. Someone's cellphone was ringing and it was ringing loudly. After looking around, Tetsuo deciphered that the ringing cellphone belonged to whoever sat in front of him. Craning his neck to look, Tetsuo could see it was either Hiroyuki Fukuyama (Boy #4) or Ban Takahashi (Boy #7) whose phone was ringing.

"Hey, one of your guys' cellphones is ringing," Tetsuo informed them as he tapped each of their shoulders. After telling the two boys, Tetsuo sat back down and laid his head back against the seat. Thoughts of racing along the shore and swimming against the ocean tides pleasantly raced through his mind. Unfortunately, he was disrupted once more. "Jeez, can't a guy get some peace and quiet around here?" he thought quietly to himself.

This time, Masaharu Morimoto (Boy #1) had disrupted his thoughts. Rolling his eyes in annoyance, Tetsuo turned to see what had happened now. Masaharu was a frail teenage boy who was openly gay. Tetsuo couldn't tell from where he was, but something had obviously spooked the guy since he was screaming at the top of his lungs and hopping up and down in his chair.

Sitting behind him was a visibly annoyed girl named Hyori Shibasaki (Girl #7). Her dazzlingly beautiful face certainly showed a look of irritation as she watched Masaharu scream and jump. Hyori wasn't the nicest person in the world, but her stunning looks made up for that, or at least in Tetsuo's mind it did. Hyori had an elegant face and slender body. She had deep, dark hazel-colored eyes and long, black hair. Her hair flowed down her back and over her shoulders like water running through rocks in a waterfall. Her sinfully engaging, hazel eyes that were shaded by strands of hair glowed with boredom, but they glowed nonetheless. If Rangiku Fujiwara was the most attractive girl in Class A, Hyori was certainly the second most attractive with her high cheekbones, full, glossy lips, and slender jaw structure. Damn, only if she'd lighten up a bit, Tetsuo began to think. He almost couldn't take his eyes off her, but he guessed she noticed him staring since she turned her head and eyed him warily.

Embarrassed, Tetsuo spun his head around as quickly as possible and drooped in his seat so Hyori didn't have to see him. Tired of staring at his classmates, Tetsuo leaned against the window and stared out at a city. The tall, looming buildings that seemed to stare down at the city's residents were fading away from view as the charter bus neared a whirlwind of bridges all connected together one way or another. The winding highway was nearly empty other than five or six vehicles driving along with and against the bus.

Looking out his window, Tetsuo saw a sedan driving alongside the bus. The mahogany-tinted sedan was driven by a father who had a child – a little boy – sitting in the back seat. The child looked up at Tetsuo while he played with two action figures resembling wrestlers Tetsuo had once seen on TV. He seemed so blissful as he sat in one spot smashing the two toys against one another. It made Tetsuo reminisce about the times he used to play with his action figures. Smiling, Tetsuo waved at the little boy, who waved back with his action figures. As he waved at the boy, Tetsuo's face contorted into a weird expression. He looked as if he just noticed something and he in fact did. Everything on the bus became quiet, like everyone was slumbering. Finally, Tetsuo though, he could finally get some shut eye.

Adjusting his body's position to his comfort, Tetsuo saw his buddy slouching into the aisle. Tetsuo looked over at Hideaki and noticed he had dropped his cellphone to the floor. Past him, Hikari and Megumi were leaning on one another's shoulders as their bodies heaved up and down, sleeping. Though he was happy that everyone got quiet, Tetsuo became suspicious of why theyall got quiet and at the same time too. Standing up to look at his classmates, Tetsuo's suspicions were confirmed when he saw everyone really did fall asleep. In the seat behind him, Uryuu was snoring louder than ever. He was lying on the seat, his head nearly falling off the edge and his headphones still snug atop his head. Swallowing his own saliva, Tetsuo felt something strange course through his veins. His body felt like it was getting heavier and his eyelids began to flutter closed. Try as hard as he did, his eyes still wouldn't remain open. The last thing Tetsuo saw before falling asleep was the blurry image of his friend's heavy body slipping into the aisle. And then he himself collapsed in a heap.

At the head of the charter bus, the bus driver wore a black mask. The mouth of the mask jutted out slightly and had a short, hose-like tube sticking out of it. Through the transparent, black eyes of the mask, the driver could see the 9th grade Class A of Takami High School had fallen fast asleep. With a wry sigh, the driver made a turn down a long bridge that seemed to go deeper and deeper into the darkness.

**42 Students Remaining **


	4. Chapter 2: Into Open Arms

Chapter 2: Into Open Arms

The dark shadows of the night swallowed a small school in the middle of a large forest. With the moonlight shining down on the school's bone-white exterior, dozens of soldiers dressed in black military gear carried unconscious heaps of flesh and bone into the school. Though there were several empty classes closer to the entrance, the soldiers emptied the students into a classroom a few ways down the hall. There were already about seven or eight students inside the classroom, their bodies seated in wooden desks with uncomfortable chairs attached to them. One after another, the soldiers carried the sleeping students into the classroom and seated them in random seats.

The classroom was of average size and seemed to have the essentials of an ordinary classroom: a teacher's desk, a blackboard, and the desks of students. At the front of the class also stood a stand with a black TV and a VCR on the shelf beneath it. Various cords and cables of different colors connected the TV and VCR to one another. Once all the students of Class A were seated in desks, the soldiers stormed out the classroom and lined the hallways and perimeter of the school, armed with various sorts of firearms like AK-47s and 9mm pistols.

For several minutes, everything was quiet inside the room save for the soft breaths of air slipping out of the students' open mouths or nostrils. In the middle of the class sat Tetsuo Kaneda, his head down on the desk and his arms hanging loosely at his sides. His short, lean body bobbed up and down as he slept. Suddenly, his head jolted up. Somehow, he had awakened and was now looking around the class. However, his eyes couldn't see anything for they hadn't even begun to adjust to the darkness in the room. All Tetsuo could make out at the time were the hunched bodies of several other people, whom he believed to be his classmates.

"What the hell's going on here?" he wondered to himself as he wiped drool from the side of his lips. "Where am I?"

Blinking constantly, Tetsuo tried to get a better look of the people surrounding him. Everyone else seemed to be sleeping; either that or they were just dead. Looking at the person closest to him, Tetsuo could tell it was Reiko Abarai. Her beautiful face looked down at her lap as her head hung low while her body slouched back in the chair. Like Tetsuo when he was sleeping, her arms hung to her sides.

"Reiko?" Tetsuo mouthed. Turning to his left, he leaned towards the other person's face and saw Kyosuke. The violent boy who had beaten Tetsuo up once sat with his head on his arms. "Oh jeez," he mumbled to himself. "What the fuck is this place? This better not be the damned beach resort they promised us."

Suddenly, a loud explosion erupted from the far left side of the room. The blaring sound flung everyone to consciousness. Tetsuo turned to the left and saw a body with no head. The body was slumped back in the chair, slightly leaning to the right as if it was ready to fall. The neck, which the missing head was once connected to, had a large open wound from which blood continuously squirted. Tetsuo's mouth opened wide with surprise, more than disgust, and he felt like throwing up. His fellow classmates probably felt the same as they stared in awe at the horrible scene before them. No one could even tell whose body it was for it had no head left. All that was left of the body that was noticeable was a flashy, Hawaiian t-shirt and a pair of blue jean-shorts. Thinking back to the beginning of the day, Tetsuo remembered Ichigo Yagami was wearing similar clothes.

Before Tetsuo could think any more, another sound came from the person sitting behind the body. This time, though, the sound was a scream, a piercing one at that. The scream belonged to Rena Hasegawa. Her entire torso was stained with crimson blood. The once white blouse she wore was now turning pinkish-red. Her hands were sticking out, drenched in blood, while she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Fearful for his girlfriend, Yamato Sakai stood up from where he sat and ran over to comfort her. While Rena sat in the third seat of the row that was closest to the windows, Yamato sat in the back in the middle row. He knelt beside Rena and wiped the blood off her face with the sleeve of his maroon sweater while caressing her hand with his fingers. Rena had begun crying and was whispering something incoherent to Yamato.

"What? What are you saying Rena?" Yamato asked.

"It's… it's... it's Ichi-Ichigo," Rena sputtered. The tears streaming down her face made her words even more jumbled as they ran down her cheeks into her mouth.

"Who?"

"It's Ichigo!" she finally screamed.

"Everyone quiet!" a familiar voice ordered with a strong, authoritative tone as the lights turned on and the window blinds opened.

Turning their heads, the students of Class A saw it was their teacher, Mr. Yamamoto. Surely, they thought, he'd save them from whatever nightmare they were experiencing. Even though he was strict most of the time, he wasn't unreasonable and would surely listen to what the students had to say. But, boy, were they as wrong as ever.

"Everyone be quiet and take your seats," Mr. Yamamoto said. The majority of Class A sat in their seats amiably like they normally did in class when Mr. Yamamoto called for attention. The only person who didn't listen was Yamato, who stayed by Rena's side, holding her hand. Mr. Yamamoto noticed this and asked in his usually calm and respectful manner, "Mr. Sakai, please take your seat."

"Mr. Yamamoto, what's going on here?" Yamato asked, ignoring Mr. Yamamoto's instructions.

"I said take your seat," Mr. Yamamoto said sternly. The old teacher whom everyone in Class A had known for so long appeared emotionless. His usually bright brown eyes showed no remorse for the headless body before him. Everything else appeared normal though; he still wore the beige leisure suit Tetsuo saw him in this morning. "I'll inform you on what is happening in a moment."

"Please, can't I just sit here?" Yamato begged. "For Heaven's sake, Rena's all bloodied up and crying! And it's not even her blood! I mean, who the hell is this?"

Yamato pointed his finger at the body in the Hawaiian shirt seated in front of Rena.

"You can't even tell, Mr. Sakai? Why, that's your classmate, Ichigo Yagami," Mr. Yamamoto noted in an almost sadistic tone.

"I-Ichigo?" Yamato muttered his name, his eyes widening. His hand still on Rena's, he eased backwards on his hands and stared at the bloodied body. At the feet of the body, Yamato could finally see where its head had gone. On the floor was Ichigo's head with a black, metal collar lying alongside it. The innocent, 15-year-old boy who barely ever did anything to anyone was now dead. His open mouth formed an 'O' and the skin around where his neck should be appeared shredded and somewhat burned. Blood blotted parts of the boy's pale complexion and even formed a pool around his head. When the realization of his classmate hit him, Yamato whispered to himself, "Holy shit."

"Now, please take your seat," Mr. Yamamoto repeated once more.

"Holy shit," was all Yamato could say as he started to stand. His fingers still gripping Rena's soft hand, he glared at Mr. Yamamoto and asked the question on everyone's mind, or at least he tried to. "What the hell is going –"

_BANG!_

The sound of a hammer pumping a small, round, metal object out of the barrel of a gun interrupted Yamato. Forced by the pull of a single trigger, a bullet discharged itself from the chamber of a small handgun and headed for Yamato Sakai's head. The bullet flew through the air and tore through flesh and bone. Being so close, Rena could hear bones shattering under the impact of the bullet and flesh being eaten away by the bullet's heat. Still alive, Yamato felt the coldness of the bullet that turned warm just as it entered his brain then penetrated it. Red liquid flung out in all directions through both holes in Yamato's head and permeated other students' clothing. As the bullet finished its journey through Yamato's head, Yamato collapsed to the floor at his beloved girlfriend's feet. It was almost like watching one of those action movies where one of the characters would get shot and fall to the ground in slow motion. The only difference here was that this was real and that everyone even harder.

Immediately, Rena fell from her chair and landed right next to her beloved's dead body. She knew he was most likely dead, but there was a semblance of hope in her that wanted to make sure he wasn't in any pain. Grabbing him by the shoulders, Rena shook her boyfriend's body, but it just moved like a rag doll and made no sound whatsoever. It was painful watching the pretty young girl crying and shaking her boyfriend's body, hoping he was still alive. But what could anyone do at a time like this? No one dared moved in fear of being shot through the head just like their classmates minutes before. All they could do was sit silently and watch in dismay.

"Now, Ms. Hasegawa, I'm very sorry for what just happened, but please take a seat? I really don't want to kill anyone else," Mr. Yamamoto said as callous as ever.

"Why don't you just kill me now?" Rena suddenly yelled. Even more tears streamed down her face as she held her dead boyfriend's head to her bloody chest. "I'll die soon anyways! This is Battle Royale, isn't it?"

The thought hadn't occurred to anyone that that was the situation they were in. No one thought about Battle Royale or wanted to. It was a disgusting thing; forcing children to kill one another was the most disturbing thing in the world yet the country was doing it each year. Of course everyone in Class A heard about it; the government did project the results and the winner of every Program on every news and radio station. But at the moment, all thoughts of it were gone until now anyways. Murmurs began spreading throughout the class. People had obviously become afraid. Another gunshot ringing through the air stopped it all though.

Giving their attention back to their teacher, the students could see Mr. Yamamoto pointing the handgun into the air. There was a hole in the white ceiling above him now and white dust was escaping from it. Mr. Yamamoto relaxed his arm and let it hang to his side.

"Yes, you're right. This is Battle Royale," Mr. Yamamoto revealed, using his middle finger to push his glasses up the ridge of his nose. Though the class had probably guessed it already, they were all still shocked at it actually being announced. Screams and cries erupted from all sides of the room, but they were all soon quieted down from Mr. Yamamoto pointing his gun. "As you all know, the Program, or Battle Royale as it's also known, is a competition in which all forty-two of you must kill one another until there is one clear and decisive victor. You've all heard about it or read about it somewhere, so I'd like to just skip this speech they made me prepare and just play the video for you."

Reaching into a drawer in the large wooden desk behind him, Mr. Yamamoto withdrew a black video tape and pushed it into the VCR. Tetsuo hadn't noticed it before, but there was a stand at the front of the class that contained a black TV with a black VCR connected to it through plugs and cables. The TV screen was plain black at first with static lines crossing it once in a while. When the remote in his hand wouldn't work, Mr. Yamamoto reached forward and pressed the 'play' button on the VCR.

The black screen transformed into one of multiple colors. Standing in the middle of the screen was a thin, young woman with shoulder-length, blonde hair and brown eyes. Tetsuo remembered seeing her on TV a couple times, but her name escaped him at the moment. All he could remember was seeing her sing on stage with a few other people. She was cute and had dimples on both sides of her face as she smiled at the screen. Clothing her teeny body was a pink t-shirt with the bolded words 'BATTLE ROYALE' printed onto them and a pair of white pants. Music began to play in the background as letters appeared on screen. Printed in cutesy bubble letters, the twelve letters formed the words 'BATTLE ROYALE'. The music began to fade into the background as the young woman waved happily to the audience.

"Hello, everyone! My name is Kou Nanahara, no relation to that asshole who fucked up the Program a few years back! Oops, sorry for my language! I didn't mean it." It was creepy seeing how laid-back and cheerful this girl was as she introduced herself. It was even creepier knowing more than half the class had watched her hundreds of times on TV. Once she relayed her name, Tetsuo could remember who she was. Kou Nanahara – she was a top-selling recording artist who used to be part of some girl group called 'Tokyo Boom'. Tetsuo recalled listening to her latest single on the radio just a few days ago. It made Tetsuo sick, thinking about someone who sang about love and peace and passion was here telling kids how to kill one another. "Anyways, I'm here to help inform you guys how to play the Battle Royale correctly! Isn't this gonna be fun?"

A 3D image of a large island appeared on the screen in front of Kou Nanahara. The image showed no physical features of the island, it was just a simple computerized image with several sections divided up by gridlines. "First off, I'll explain the island you've all been brought to! I'm not really sure what the name of this island is, but it's pretty big and it's completely abandoned! About fifteen to twenty miles of this island is comprised of forests and a beach. The rest of the island is comprised of the main city and the residential area. Most of the other Programs have been conducted on islands or abandoned prisons or ghost towns consisting mostly of dense forests and hills or ruined and aging buildings, but this time, the island's a combination of both; you guys are gonna have a lot of places to hide! Wonderful, isn't it?"

Tetsuo shook his head as he listened to the disturbingly cheerful girl continue on with her explanation of the Program.

"However, you're not gonna be able to hide forever! The island's been divided into many zones, which can turn into Danger Zones every six hours of the game. Your Program Instructor will relay which zones will become Danger Zones and when every six hours. If any student is caught within the boundaries of a Danger Zone, he or she will be quickly disposed off through an explosion set off by the collars around your necks."

Surprised, all the students in the class grabbed at their necks and felt cold metal wrapped around them. Each person had a black collar on them. Freaking out, several students tried to wrench the collars off their necks.

"Get your hands off the collars!" Mr. Yamamoto demanded. With his gun, he pointed over to Ichigo Yagami's headless body and added, "We wouldn't want any more of you to get blown up now would we?"

Instantly, all the students let go of the collars and turned their attention back to the instructional video.

"And about those collars," Kou Nanahara continued, "they'll blow up if any of you try to take them off, so please don't try that. Everyone wants this to be fun and it won't be any fun if you die because of yourself now would it?"

Everyone wants this to be fun? Is she kidding or what? Playing basketball with all your friends for hours on end is fun, but this, this is just sick.

"Now, onto the instructions of the Program. Every six hours, your Program Instructor will get on the intercom and announce the names of students killed within the past six hours. By now, you might be wondering how we're tracking all you down, right? Well, it has to do with the collars. Each collar is fitted with a tracking device that allows the Instructor to tell where you are and if you're alive or not. It's also because of this that you can get blown up when you go into a Danger Zone. Anyways, at the beginning of the game, each of you will be given a survival pack."

Kou Nanahara walked from one set to another. The scenery behind her changed from a pristine white to a cold blue and in front of her was a gray table. Atop the table was an army green duffel bag that was filled with random items. With her left hand, Kou unzipped the bag and reached in with her other hand. Retrieving a map, a flashlight, a piece of paper, a bottle of water, an MRE, a compass, and a pencil, she laid them all out on the table and continued her explanation.

"Contained in each survival pack is a map of the island, a flashlight, a list of students in your class, three bottles of water, four rations of food, a compass, a pencil, and a random item meant to be used as your weapon. It's random so maybe you'll get lucky or maybe you won't."

At this point, Kou dug into the duffel bag once again and pulled out a flick-knife. She pressed a tiny button on the handle of the flick-knife and a sharp, pointy knife shot up through the hole in the handle. Though the blade was rusty by now, it gleamed in the artificial light above Kou's head. As Kou stared at the weapon, her face contorted into a strange grin that a little boy would have when he got his first bike.

"The weapons also range from simple home appliances, like toasters of remote controls, to weapons of death, such as pistols and revolvers. Last, but not least, the Program has a time limit of three days. That means you have seventy-two hours to kill each of your classmates till you're the last one left! If there is more than one student left alive at the seventy-two hour mark, then all remaining collars will be triggered and everybody dies! Luckily, that hasn't happened yet!"

Setting the flick-knife on the gray table, Kou moved into another set. This one had a plain, black wall with nothing in the room. Kou stood in front of the camera flashing her toothy grin. Sickening how there were people out there who actually had fun with this kind of thing. Tetsuo wanted to slap the bitch right there, but seeing as how Mr. Yamamoto had already killed one person for not getting into his seat, he chose not to gamble with his life and stayed seated.

"I hope you all had fun learning about the Program! You will all now be called one by one according to your student number by your Program Instructor. I wish everyone good luck and hope none of you screw this up! Remember to fight right and with gusto!"

Kou smiled and waved at the screen as the credits began rolling over her in white letters. There, Mr. Yamamoto pressed 'stop' and went over to his desk again. The class was silent, but God knows each and every one of them had something to say. Mr. Yamamoto grinned evilly as he found the clipboard with the students' names and numbers on them. Before he could call out the names, though, the door to the classroom slid open and two guards hurried into the room. Both guards were dressed in camouflage gear unlike the others who wore black clothing. Slung around their shoulders were Ak-47s and at their sides were pistols of some kind, just like the soldiers in the hallways. Saying nothing as they entered, the two soldiers stood still with their backs against the wall on either side of the doorway. Coming from outside the classroom was a muffled sliding sound like a pair of wheels was running along against an unpaved road. Another soldier entered the room, pushing a giant shelf of duffel bags in front of him. A fourth soldier followed closely behind, pushing another shelf of bags. The third soldier pushed his shelf to the right of Mr. Yamamoto while the other soldier pushed his shelf to the cruel teacher's left. Both men stood guard at their respective shelves and remained still.

"Before I let any of you out of here, is there anybody with a question?" Mr. Yamamoto asked.

"W-Why are y-you going along with th-this, Mr. Yamamoto?" Keiko stammered. She was Mr. Yamamoto's favorite student, plus the student body president, so she obviously had some questions needing answering.

For the first time since waking up in this cold, dirty room, the students of 9th grade Class A of Takami High School saw a look of compassion on Mr. Yamamoto's face. Mournfully looking on at his students, Mr. Yamamoto answered, "You should know by now, Keiko."

Keiko was the only person Mr. Yamamoto actually answered by her first name. He had a habit of calling each and every one of his students by their last name and adding Mr. or Ms. but with Keiko it was different. The two were more like friends than student-and-teacher.

"You talk to me all the time about how the government is sadistic and how not all students are how the government perceives them to be. But I know, Keiko, I know that you are wrong. I've been a teacher my whole life and I know what students are like. You're all the same. On the outside you look different and act different, but on the inside you're all the same. Each of you think that the government is crazy for doing what they do, but you're wrong. The Program is for the benefit of the future generations! By decreasing the number of youths in our country, we are decreasing the number of violence and brutality. You're all just kids so I don't expect any of you to understand, but the one of you who does survive this, when you become older and reach adulthood, you will understand."

Tears began to roll down Keiko's face as she listened to her favorite teacher speak for probably the last time. She slumped back in her chair and faced the clock in the room that ticked away the time until the students' doom.

"Any more questions?" Mr. Yamamoto wondered. When no one responded, he nodded and picked up his clipboard again. "Before I let any of you out there, I just have one question. You guys don't have to answer, not right now at least. You're all about to step into a world of hurt, where one person kills another just to survive. It's as simple as that so don't make it any more complex. There are no questions about this game, except for one: Could you kill your own best friend?"

The chilling words caught everyone off-guard. Could anyone really kill their own best friend? Would they? Who knows? Mr. Yamamoto waited for his words to sink in then read off the first name on his student roster.

"First up is Boy #1, Masaharu Morimoto."

Shrieking, Masaharu hopped out of his seat and staggered through the rows of desks in order to get to the front of the class. Beads of sweat trickled down his tan skin and soaked the collar of his button-up shirt. As he moved towards the soldiers and Mr. Yamamoto, Masaharu could tell his legs weren't moving properly; they were pretty wobbly and tried to move in every direction except forward.

The game hadn't even started yet and fear had already devoured him. Masaharu cursed himself in his mind, thinking how weak he was. You're probably gonna end up dead first, he thought. These sons of bitches are gonna come at you from all corners and stab you to death.

"Hurry up, Masaharu," Mr. Yamamoto said emotionlessly.

"Yes, sir," Masaharu replied. He finally reached the front of the class and was handed a survival pack by one of the soldiers.

"Take your backpack out of here," the other soldier told him when he reached his shelf. Masaharu looked up and down the shelf, searching for his backpack. He had actually found it already, but he wanted to buy some time. God I knew I should've just stayed home, he continued thinking as he stalled. I could be home eating ice cream right now, but no I just had to come on this trip. I'm a fucking idiot. "Any time now," the soldier said, interrupting his thoughts.

"S-sorry," Masaharu mumbled as he grabbed his gray backpack. With one last gloomy look at his class, Masaharu stepped out of the classroom and charged down the hallway.

"Girl #1, Ai Kanezawa, come on up."

Ai got out of her seat and blew a kiss to Keigo. She then turned to her two friends in the class and gave them somber looks. She proceeded to walk up to the first soldier, who threw her a survival pack, then grabbed her pink backpack out of the others. Sitting, the remaining students of Takami High School's Class A could hear her tiny feet make sounds as she walked down the hall. The footsteps got louder as she changed her pace, and soon they were gone.

One by one, Class A was reduced in size as its students made their way outside. After Ban Takahashi (Boy #7) left the classroom, Mr. Yamamoto called Hyori Shibasaki (Girl #7) up to the front. Hyori was seated in the very back of the classroom in the row closest to the window. She slowly got up out of her seat and walked passed several of her classmates before making it up to the shelf of duffel bags. As Hyori strode up the rows, she couldn't help but feel sadness. After years of despising most of her classmates, Hyori now felt sorry for them. How ironic that the people she didn't even like, she couldn't kill. The soldier beside the survival packs threw one at her. Hyori caught it with both hands and slung it around her shoulder. She reached the other shelf and found her turquoise-colored backpack out of the rainbow of bags. Without one glance at her classmates, Hyori exited the classroom, her head hung low.

The next to leave was Uryuu. Uryuu Karasu (Boy #8) got up from his desk and walked up to the front of the class strongly. Instead of letting the soldier throw him a survival pack, he grabbed one himself and flashed an angry, defiant glare at his teacher. It looked as if he was about to grab Mr. Yamamoto by the collar of his leisure suit and wring him out. The soldiers probably thought that's exactly what he was about to do so they quickly blocked Uryuu's way. Smirking at the soldiers and Mr. Yamamoto, Uryuu extended his right arm and ripped his red backpack off the shelf, his eyes still on the bastards that forced him and the rest of his class into this game. Saluting his classmates, Uryuu stepped out the doorway and stared down the long, dark hallway. To Uryuu, the hallway seemed to lead to an endless abyss of darkness and despair. For an obscenely long time, Uryuu never thought about crying. But now, it felt like it was the only thing he could do. Of course he was a great fighter, but no way could he ever kill his classmates no matter how much he hated some of them. Crying truly seemed to be the only thing he could do at the moment. However, he chose against it. Even though this was probably the last time he'd see any of these people, he didn't want their last memory of him to be one of him crying. Giving one last look to his classmates, Uryuu turned and ran down the hallway.

Soon, more than a quarter of Class A had left the classroom. The next to go was Enishi Tenken (Boy #13). As he got up from his seat, he almost looked robotic. Without missing a step, Enishi headed towards the two shelves. As he walked, he appeared bored or dull as if none of what Mr. Yamamoto told everyone hit him. The soldier who had handed out twelve survival packs already tossed one to Enishi. The Chief of Police's son caught it with one arm and slung it over his shoulder. He looked at Mr. Yamamoto through the corner of his eye and proceeded to leave the classroom.

"Aren't you forgetting something, Mr. Tenken?" Mr. Yamamoto reminded him.

"I don't need the backpack. Just keep it," Enishi replied in his smooth, kind voice just before he turned away from sight of his classmates.

Mr. Yamamoto made a face at Enishi and looked down at his clipboard. The next name was Megumi Matsuda. "Girl #13, Megumi Matsuda!"

Gulping, Megumi stood up and looked at the rest of her classmates. They all looked back with sorrowful expressions. She almost began to cry, but tried her best to force the tears back. She already cried as her best friend, Hikari Satomi (Girl #9), left earlier so she didn't feel like crying any more. For someone who was usually strong-willed and powerful, she was awfully distressed now. Her legs shaking, Megumi reached the shelves and was handed a duffel bag while she found her own bag from the rest. Slowly, Megumi strode down the hallway into the unknown. Being the daughter of a retired army man and the granddaughter of a ruthless corporation owner, Megumi was taught that the only thing that could kill you was fear. That strong state of mind allowed Megumi to win several medals in athletics, but here, it meant nothing. Fear had certainly consumed her already so she was probably as good as dead. As she made her way through the long, dimly-lit hallway, though, Megumi knew fear wasn't the only thing that could kill you out there. She had already watched twenty-five people leave the room and any one of them could kill her now. Taking one deep breath, Megumi was pushed aside by a large, hulking figure. Her body froze as if she had stepped in cold ice. The figure that walked passed her was Komamura Tamayama. Was he going to play? Would he be the one to kill her? Thoughts raged within Megumi's mind as she continued down the hallway. Finally, before leaving the school and stepping into danger, she unzipped her survival pack and found her weapon. It was a SPAS-12 pump action shotgun.

Back in the classroom, Hiro Kurosawa (Boy #21) sat absentmindedly as his classmates left the room one by one. Komamura had just left and Rangiku was called up next. Though he wasn't a pervert, Hiro was just like any other guy. He watched Rangiku's voluptuous body leave her seat and walk up to the front of the class. Her slender body paused for a second to look for her backpack, a pink bag that she slung around one arm. The backpack was the last thing Hiro saw of her before she disappeared into the hallway. Sucks someone as beautiful as her has to die in this miserable place.

Thinking back on his life, Hiro thought that maybe it was actually good that he didn't get too close to his classmates. If he had gotten even an inch closer to them, Hiro would've probably been the first to die. Not that he was weak, but Hiro was way too compassionate for his own good. In school, he often got into fights because he protected those who couldn't protect themselves even if he didn't have a clue who they were. Shit, even now in the direst of situations, he couldn't help but think about helping his classmates get off this damned island. With a half smile on his face, Hiro sighed and hung his head back so his eyes stared up at the dirty, white ceiling. Lights blinded his dark brown eyes as he stared up at them, but he didn't care at all at the moment. He just wanted to doze off in class one last time before having to say goodbye. Hanging his head back in his chair was a habit for Hiro; he did almost every day in class. His classmates thought he was just zoning out, thinking blankly about nothing. However, he did in fact contemplate many things while he zoned out.

Though he heard each of his classmates' names called, Hiro didn't look back at them once. He heard the name Tetsuo Kaneda called and heard the boy in front of him get out of his seat. So that's his name? Hiro never really bothered to get to know his classmates' names for he never planned on interacting with them much. This was one of the boys he ended up talking to though. Even if it was just for barely a second, he remembered the boy's simple act of kindness.

Tetsuo grabbed his backpack from the shelf and looked at his classmates. "Good luck," he mouthed before making his exit.

After watching the boy leave, Hiro hung his head back again. The last name he heard called before his own was Hikaru Samejima (Girl #20). Eyes still staring up at the ceiling, Hiro could only hear the young girl weeping as she left the classroom. That was one of the sounds he hated to hear: the cries of women. It made him cringe, the thought of a woman crying. He had to suck it up, though, considering his name was about to be called.

"Boy #21, Hiro Kurosawa," Mr. Yamamoto announced.

Flinging his head back forward, Hiro glared at Mr. Yamamoto and stood up. The only person left in the room besides him, his teacher, and the guards was a girl whose name he didn't even know. The girl was quite ugly, unlike a lot of the other girls Hiro had seen in class. Nevertheless, he flashed her a genuinely kind smile and said, "Good luck."

Glancing one last time at the classroom, Hiro saw Ichigo and Yamato's rotting corpses beside one another. The blood spurting from Ichigo's neck had stopped and the blood splattered all over the place dried out. On the floor, Yamato's blood had also dried. It crusted the white floor and Ichigo's white shoes. The blood had also created a trail that led straight to Ichigo's severed head. Shifting his glance to the soldier in front of him, Hiro caught his assigned survival pack and passed the other soldier.

"Keep my backpack," Hiro told Mr. Yamamoto. Of all the times he spoke to Mr. Yamamoto, this was probably the first he actually looked the man dead in the eyes. "Send it to my father. Tell him I got caught anyways, but thanks."

Giving Mr. Yamamoto a mysterious smile, Hiro turned and left the classroom. As the enigma that was Hiro Kurosawa disappeared into the hallway, Mr. Yamamoto eyed him. He never met nor heard about Hiro's family so he didn't really know what Hiro meant by that last statement. In fact, he thought Hiro was a street urchin considering he was always just walking around town with no one but himself to keep him company. He did see him with that strange boy, Enishi Tenken, a few times though. Shrugging the thoughts away, Mr. Yamamoto looked at Yuriko Kuriyama and announced her name and student number.

Outside, Hiro marched down the dark hallway that was lined with soldiers carrying assault rifles. He always heard the phrase 'dead man walking' but now, he actually felt like he was a dead man walking. All he could hear now was the sound of his ominous footsteps heading towards the bitter, inevitable end. All he could see was the shadows hoping to consume him with their darkness. Suddenly, the shadows disappeared and were replaced by a bright, white light hanging above the exit. So this is it, huh – game time? Now, walking into open arms, Hiro was armed with nothing but a switch-blade, which he flipped open as he exited the school.

**40 Students Remaining**


	5. Chapter 3: Swallowed

**AUTHOR'S NOTE**: I've revised Chapters 1 and 2 so I suggest you go read them again if you've only read the unrevised versions.

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Chapter 3: Swallowed 

Fearing for her life, Yuriko Kuriyama (Girl #21) ran as fast as she could. Cold sweat seeped through her pores and dribbled down her face and body. Ever since leaving the school grounds less than five minutes ago, Yuriko had been running. Though her body was tired and shaky, her mind would not allow her to stop. All she could think about was surviving. There were too many things left for her to do, she just couldn't die here. She still had to get a boyfriend, a first kiss, and lots of other stuff. The thought of never having those things saddened Yuriko now more than ever.

As she continued to run, she could hear others moving in the shadows. Images of her classmates lunging at her from out of nowhere and ripping her body into pieces rushed into her head. For as long as she could remember, Yuriko had been made fun of by nearly everyone at school. Sure she wasn't as pretty or as fit as the other girls, but didn't she too have the right to live a good life without being teased about her looks? Though she always pretended to ignore them, on the inside she was crumbling into pieces. There were nights where she'd just come home from cram school and cry her eyes out all alone on her bed. Other nights she simply cursed at herself for being so ugly and cut her wrists once in a while. Her parents knew she was cutting herself, but they did nothing.

Hmm, her parents… This was the first time she thought about her parents in a long time. Moving past the arms of trees and heaps of bushes, Yuriko envisioned her parents standing before her the whole time. They appeared to be smiling like usual. Though they seemed nice to everyone, Yuriko knew what they were really like. Both her parents were cruel people who cared about nothing but themselves. Sometimes, Yuriko even wondered why they bothered to have children. Other than Yuriko, they had a boy who was turning five in two weeks. Thinking about her little brother made Yuriko even sadder. Her brother, Shino, was the only person Yuriko really cared about. He was also the only person who didn't make fun of Yuriko. In fact, he thought of her as his hero, his role model. At times when she was down, he'd get her back up by telling her he wanted to be just like her and get good grades in school. Though this was the most inappropriate of times, she felt like smiling.

Smiling – that wasn't one of the many things Yuriko did very often. How odd was it that the worst day in her life was the day she smiled the most? First, she smiled when Hiro told her 'good luck' and now she was smiling at the thought of her little brother. It was weird, but hey, might as well go out all smiles, right?

Ando Akabane (Boy #17) was running; he'd been running for nearly three or four minutes now. Luckily for him, he was pretty athletic and running didn't bother him at all. The only thing that bothered him at the moment was the weapon he was assigned. When he opened his survival pack, he hoped to find a shotgun or a knife or something he could kill someone with easily, but no, all he found was a roll of dental floss. Out of all the students in Class A, Ando was probably one of the only people who were willing to participate in the killing. He enjoyed fighting anyways so this was nothing different, right?

A creepy smile appeared on Ando's face as he eyed the girl he was chasing. Though he'd been running after her for about four minutes now, she had no clue he was even near. Ando found her four minutes ago when he was checking his survival pack. He heard footsteps running in his direction and decided to follow them. The moon was shining down on the island, but the heavy branches of trees forbade any shred of light to come into the forest. All Ando could see when the girl passed by was her blue skirt and black pigtails. Thinking for a moment before rushing off after her, Ando remembered Yuriko was the only girl in class who wore pigtails. Grinning sadistically, Ando zipped up his duffel bag, which he had filled with the contents of his own backpack, and slung it around his shoulder before taking off after Yuriko.

As he ran, Ando held the roll of dental floss in his right hand. At first the dental floss seemed useless, but after some thinking Ando found a way to use it. He decided he'd use it to suffocate whoever crossed his path. It was perfect; all Ando would have to do is sneak behind his enemy and wrap the floss around their necks. With a strong and successful pull, Ando could kill a person within a minute. Smiling at the thought of victory, Ando listened to his feet moving rapidly along the ground.

Elsewhere on the island, Tetsuo stood panting at the top of a flight of stairs. Droplets of sweat soaked the collar of his light blue button-up shirt. Though it was a cool night, Tetsuo felt like his body was burning and felt like ripping off the blue jeans he wore. He just finished running away from someone. To think someone was actually playing this fucking game. Bent over with his hands on his knees, Tetsuo tried his best to see what lay at the bottom of the stairs. The absence of light anywhere around him constricted his vision, though. Fortunately, he remembered that the survival pack that damn soldier had thrown at him was equipped with a flashlight. Quickly, he unzipped the pack and searched through it. There were more things in the pack now than there was when he first received it. To make things easier, Tetsuo decided to empty the contents of the backpack he packed for the trip and stuff them in the survival pack. Now, along with the other supplies in the survival pack were a few folded clothes, an MP3 player, and two magazines. Tetsuo found the flashlight and turned it on. The beam of light emitted by the head of the flashlight illuminated the darkness beneath the stairs. Looking down, Tetsuo could tell it led to a tunnel.

Though Tetsuo had a bad feeling about going into the unknown, he decided to defy that feeling and went down the staircase. He was frightened, but he knew that if he wanted to survive, he'd have to find a good hiding place. The tunnel he was entering seemed to be the perfect spot to hide at the moment considering you couldn't even see anything from the top of the stairs. If someone went down into the tunnel, though, Tetsuo knew he'd be dead. Even though he was safe for the time being, the class clown ran through the tunnel faster than he ever did before in his life.

From the looks of it, the tunnel was actually an old, abandoned subway. The stairs led down to the platform, which had a tiled floor that was stained with various kinds of substances. There were a few columns still standing in the platform and the tracks still seemed to be intact. Slowing his pace, Tetsuo flashed his light at the tracks and hopped down from the platform.

"Hope no trains come this way," Tetsuo joked to himself.

As he walked through the dark subway station, Tetsuo wondered where all his friends were. He figured Hideaki was probably trying to find everyone to gather so they can attack the school. A strong fighter, defender of the weak, and a smart kid – Hideaki was everything a parent could ask for. Thinking about all his friends, Tetsuo thought the only person who could actually survive this "game" was Uryuu.

A part of Tetsuo hoped Uryuu would find him and rescue him considering he did that a lot anyways. Tetsuo was kind of an annoyance to the older kids; he joked around a lot and took nothing seriously. Uryuu had to back him up quite a lot since he annoyed so many people. Tetsuo chuckled at himself and continued walking down the tunnel.

"Where the hell does this damn subway lead to?" he wondered, flashing his flashlight at different places in the subway tunnel.

Walking at a steady pace now, Tetsuo pulled out a bottle of water and drank a fairly large amount. Hey if I'm gonna die soon anyways, might as well die with my thirst quenched, right? As he twisted the bottle cap back on the water bottle, he heard something strange coming from up ahead. It sounded like pieces of gravel grinding against something. Unsure about what made the sound, Tetsuo turned off his flashlight and stayed still. The darkness of the subway tunnel swallowed everything around him. A chilling feeling crept up Tetsuo's spine as he heard the sound one more time. Afraid that someone was up ahead, Tetsuo stuck his hand into his survival pack and pulled out his weapon: a Smith & Wesson 686 revolver. Apparently, his pack was lucky.

Moving forward slowly and steadily, Tetsuo extended his left arm forward and pointed the revolver. Keeping his finger poised on the trigger, Tetsuo cocked the gun and inched closer to the direction of the sound. Suddenly, the sound came again, but this time it was louder and longer. It sounded like hundreds of rocks fell to the ground and grinded against one another. Tetsuo's body shook and he nearly dropped the revolver, but he caught it with his left hand and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the ground, causing dirt and dust to fly up into the air. With the flashlight in his right hand, Tetsuo pointed the beam of light forward. In less than a second, Tetsuo was knocked to the ground by something hard, a fist. With his body on the train tracks and his only weapon at his feet, Tetsuo felt like a sitting duck. Fearfully, he closed his eyes and gulped, hoping that whoever killed him did it quick and fast. After seconds of lying still, he opened one eye and saw a body standing over him.

"Oh Lord, please don't kill me! Please!" he pleaded.

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna kill you," a feminine voice responded.

Confused, Tetsuo's brows furrowed and he picked the flashlight up from the ground. He shone the light on the body before him and saw Hyori Shibasaki (Girl #7) waving her arms around her face, trying to block the light from her eyes. Great, I just begged a harmless girl not to kill me. How lower am I gonna get? Slightly laughing, Tetsuo stood up and moved the light away from his female classmate. As he stood, he patted the dirt away from his pants and flashed the light on Hyori's body, away from her face. She was wearing a short, khaki skirt and a pink tanktop with white lining. Over the tanktop, she wore a hooded jacket colored a darker shade of pink.

"Done checkin me out?" Hyori asked sarcastically, her arms crossed over her chest.

"Oh, no, that's not it," Tetsuo hesitantly said. Hyori smiled and giggled. Tetsuo tried to smile, but he felt more embarrassed than funny. Trying to get away from the subject, he asked, "Are you alright?"

"I should be asking you that. It looked like you were gonna die of a heart attack," Hyori remarked.

Tetsuo displayed a crooked smile and said, "So you're really not playing?"

"I said I'm not gonna kill you, didn't I?"

"Okay…"

"If someone attacks me, though, I won't hesitate. That's why I punched you," Hyori told Tetsuo. "Speaking of that, sorry, I didn't know whether or not you were playing."

"Oh, it's alright. It didn't hurt that much," Tetsuo lied. In truth, it actually did hurt. Hyori looked like the nice girl who lived next door, but she punched like a street brawler. It really surprised Tetsuo.

"So, should we get goin?" Hyori suggested. Tetsuo nodded. Together, the two classmates headed down the dark subway tunnel, uncertain about what lay ahead.

The sound of a zipper opening emanated from within a porta-potty near the school grounds. Sitting atop the dirty toilet with the cover closed over the seat was Yutaka Akanishi (Boy #18). Yutaka was wearing his lucky baseball cap and a dark blue jacket over a gray t-shirt and blue jeans. Withdrawing his hand from the large duffel bag on his lap, the shred of moonlight shining through the cracks of the old porta-potty gleamed against something in his hand. The object was thin and long, it was about three-feet long. Using the dim light of the moon, Yutaka moved the object around his hand to figure out what it was. The part he was holding was cold and felt like metal, but as he moved his hand upwards, he felt something even colder. At the end of the three-foot long shaft was a sharp, pointed head, probably only six-inches long. After a few seconds, Yutaka could finally tell what the weapon was. In his hands, Yutaka Akanishi held a pickaxe. Though it wasn't as deadly as a gun, it was more precise. That's what Yutaka needed. Normally a good guy, Yutaka's fear had taken over him and drained his sanity. His hands were shaking and his lips contorted into a wicked smirk as he held the pickaxe in his hand. Letting out a primal roar, the skeletal Yutaka leaped out of the porta-potty and dashed into the forest.

"Did you hear that?" Hikari Satomi (Girl #9) asked Megumi Matsuda (Girl #13).

Luckily for them, the two girls found each other almost immediately as the game started. Hikari was hiding behind some bushes near the entrance of the school when Megumi came running by. As she made her way down the school hallway, Megumi figured she'd be the first to die, but instead she might actually be able to survive. There was strength in numbers, wasn't there? Hers and Hikari's weapons weren't that bad either. Megumi had received the SPAS-12 shotgun while Hikari got a sickle, the kind used for harvesting. The sickle was about two feet long with a sharp, curved blade that reflected Hikari's face. The two girls were hiding out in the forest where bushes surrounded them. No one had passed by yet so it was obviously a good choice for a hiding spot.

"Yeah, what do you think it was?" Megumi replied. "You think someone just died?"

"I hope not," Hikari wished. "I hope no one plays this fucking game."

"That's some wishful thinking, Hikari, but that's all it is," Megumi replied. It sounded like such a mean thing to say to her best friend, but Megumi couldn't help it. This was no time to be nice. With pondering eyes, Megumi giggled at herself. She thought it funny how her eyes were swelling up in tears earlier, and now she was playing all strong and hard.

"I know but still…" Hikari muttered.

"Don't worry, Hikari," Megumi comforted her. She moved in closer to Hikari and hugged her with one arm. "I'll protect you."

"Thanks Megumi," Hikari replied with a fake smile. "You're –"

Before Megumi could finish, the sound of a wild roar came from behind. Megumi and Hikari turned their heads to see a hulking figure rush towards them. Clothed in an unzipped, black track jacket, a white tanktop, and black jeans, Kyosuke Yasutora (Boy #6) charged at his two classmates, swinging his weapon – a machete. Both Hikari and Megumi shrieked as they watched the young man attack them. They jumped backwards as Kyosuke swung his machete down at them. Megumi managed to pull her duffel bag away, but Hikari's duffel bag was torn open by the machete. A horrified look appeared on Hikari's face as Kyosuke turned to her. Her face became even more horrified when she saw the look in Kyosuke's eyes. It was the look of a monster, a monster ready to kill its prey. Kyosuke's eyes appeared bloodshot as he gritted his teeth at Hikari.

How could he be the one to kill me? Kyosuke was a nice boy, even though he was a jackass sometimes. He was really handsome too and had a charm no other boy in Class A possessed. Hikari had a crush on him ever since they met in fifth grade. Fuck all those people who say you can't find love at first sight. Hikari knew better; she knew she really did love Kyosuke the first time she saw him. He was wearing a track jacket like the one he wore today, but it was much smaller considering he was only about 5'4" back then and now he was almost 6'. He wore a cute hat that had Kanji writing over it. Hikari was waiting for her mother to come pick her up after softball tryouts while Kyosuke was riding his bicycle around in the parking lot with some of the other jocks. She had to wait for nearly thirty minutes, but it didn't bother her. Kyosuke was a sight to see even then; he had such a handsome, charming smile. But now… all that charm, all that allure – it was gone. He became a monster.

Kyosuke swung his machete to his left, towards Hikari, but he was startled by the sound of shotgun pellets hitting the ground near his feet. The basketball and football star spun around and leaped at Megumi. Megumi gulped as she pumped the SPAS-12 once more. Before she could fire off another slug, though, Kyosuke stabbed his machete forward. Using her volleyball skills, Megumi luckily dodged to the left and ran around Kyosuke. With her survival pack in one arm, she picked Hikari up with her other arm and dragged her away from Kyosuke. Looking back mournfully at the boy she had a crush on for four years, Hikari tried to force her tears back.

His machete stuck in the large tree, Kyosuke put his left leg up on the tree and pushed off to get the blade out. Growling like a madman, he stuck the machete back on the leather sheath on his belt. He then caught sight of Hikari's torn survival pack and pillaged it. At the bottom of the pack was Hikari's sickle. Kyosuke smiled at the weapon as he eyed it. Though he hoped for a long-range weapon, this would do. Sticking the shaft of the sickle between his belt and his waist, Kyosuke stood still, staring in the direction Megumi and Hikari ran towards.

Speeding through the maze of trees and bushes, Hikari and Megumi didn't dare look back. Though they didn't hear any footsteps coming after them, they feared Kyosuke would show up any minute. Wiping the small drops of tears from her cheeks, Hikari continued running. Megumi looked at her friend, wondering why she was crying. Then it hit her. She remembered Hikari liked Kyosuke. She never talked about it, but Megumi knew. By the way Hikari always looked at him and smiled whenever they talked it was obvious she liked him. Whether or not he reciprocated those feelings was anyone's guess though. Feeling sad for her best friend, Megumi almost began to cry as well.

"Megumi, can we slow down?" Hikari asked, exhaustion showing through her breath. "I don't know if I can go any longer."

Megumi nodded and stopped running. She touched Hikari's shoulder and pointed to a strange shack covered by moss and vines. The shack almost blended into the forest; it was dark brown like the trees and it had green plants covering it. With the shotgun ready, Megumi ordered Hikari to open the door. Slowly, Hikari turned the knob and flung the wooden door open. A loud creak escaped the hinges of the door, but no one was inside. Breathing a sigh of relief, Megumi lowered her weapon and followed Hikari into the shack.

The shack wasn't very big, but it would do. It only had one door – the one up front – and three windows, one of which was cracked, making it look like a spider's web. Megumi set her survival pack on a wooden crate near the wall and sat on an old stool. Hikari flopped herself on the floor and sat cross-legged. Taking out a white handkerchief from her back pocket, Hikari wiped the sweat from her forehead and neck. She sighed and stuffed the handkerchief back into her pocket.

"Why do you think he did it?" Hikari asked. "Why do you think Kyosuke decided to play the game?"

"I don't know, but did you really expect no one to play?" Megumi wondered. "Not to sound offensive or anything, but people do play this game one way or another. You've seen the reports, you know as much as I do that dementia takes over people and causes them to go crazy. It's happened to almost every kid that goes into Battle Royale. That's probably why Kyosuke attacked us."

A look of sadness appeared on Hikari's face and she lowered her head. She began to fiddle with her fingers and stared down at them.

"I know you liked him, but that's not him any more, Hikari," Megumi said. She got off the stool she was sitting on and sat next to her friend. "Are you willing to kill him if he attacks us again?"

"I… I don't know," Hikari murmured. "I just don't know."

"Well, just in case he attacks us again, I'll kill him if you can't."

For the first time in her life, Hikari looked up at her best friend in fear. She never thought she'd hear Megumi say those words, but in fact, right now, right here, she just did. Even more, she said it about the boy Hikari had fallen in love with. Thinking back to the beginning of this game, Hikari recalled Mr. Yamamoto's cold words. Could you kill your own best friend? Hikari thought about it and decided no, she couldn't. But when she looked over at Megumi, she thought different. If Megumi could say she'd kill Kyosuke just like that, could she kill Hikari as well? No, you're just going crazy. Of course she wouldn't kill you; she is your best friend after all.

Faking a smile, Hikari looked her best friend in the eyes and said, "That's why we're best friends."

"That's right," Megumi smiled back.

Though for now the two girls were safe, it would probably be the safest they'd ever be for the rest of the game. All throughout the island people were running from other people. Luckily, no one had died yet, but surely that would soon change. After all, the moon was still high up in the star-speckled black sky. No doubt someone would die before dawn.

**40 Students Remaining**


	6. Chapter 4: Hell Comes Quietly

Chapter 4: Hell Comes Quietly

Hitomi Kawamura (Girl #8) hid in a grove of tall, green trees. Making sure no one could see her, Hitomi tossed the bright, pink jacket she wore earlier into a bunch of bushes a few yards away. All she wore now was a black t-shirt and blue jeans. To add to her concealment, Hitomi stuck her legs closed to her chest and pushed her body beside the largest tree in the grove. Hopefully no one would come by and see her. Just in case someone did happen to discover her hiding spot, she held something black and metallic in her right hand. It was a gun; more specifically, a submachine gun known worldwide as the Skorpion. The gun had a short barrel and was overall small in size. However, it did carry many rounds and her survival pack was equipped with seven more magazines.

Sitting in the grove for nearly forty minutes, Hitomi already heard loud gunshots and screams radiating through the trees. The screams especially made Hitomi fear for her life for she couldn't tell if the screams came from people dying or from people killing. At the beginning of the day Hitomi had no idea they would be forced to kill one another. Matter of fact, all Hitomi was thinking about when she left for school this morning or yesterday morning, depending on what time it was now, was meeting new people, mainly guys. Like the rest of her friends, Hitomi liked boys; she liked them a lot. Unfortunately, she had bad taste in guys, or at least that's what Kasumi, Reiko, and Saori thought. Almost every guy she dated, they objected to. It got annoying after a while, but Hitomi couldn't do a thing about it. They were right after all. Speaking of her friends, Hitomi wondered where they were currently. Were they running around? Were they together? Were they dead? No, no they can't be dead. Hitomi was sure they weren't dead. She shook the idea out of her head and tried to think of something else.

No matter what, though, Hitomi's mind kept coming back to her friends. Out of the three, Hitomi knew Saori the longest. The two were in the same swim team when they were little and went to the same elementary school. When they got into junior high, though, Hitomi decided to quit swimming and focused on her grades and, of course, boys. They still remained pretty good friends, though, and hung out as much as they did in elementary. The next person Hitomi met was Reiko. They ended up in the same class in sixth grade and had been friends since then. She met Kasumi last when Kasumi defended her from some creeps in town. That was in seventh grade. Ever since then, the four had been inseparable. Wherever one went, the others would follow. You couldn't see a single one of them without the others following close behind. It was quite strange that now, in their probable final moments alive, they were nowhere near each other. Hitomi wanted to flip out her cellphone and call them all up and tell them to meet somewhere, but her judgment stopped her. She didn't want to risk making any sound just in case somebody was near. The thought still lingered in her mind though.

Suddenly, the sound of twigs cracking emanated from somewhere near. Hitomi's head moved in every which way, searching for where the sound came. Hesitantly, she raised the Skorpion level to her head. Though the sound definitely came from somewhere close to the grove, Hitomi couldn't see exactly where. Hunched down on her knees, she continued to search for whoever made the sound while pointing her deadly weapon forward.

"Hitomi?" someone said from behind.

Startled, Hitomi spun around and fell on her bottom. She pointed the Skorpion up at the figure in front of her and readied herself to pull the trigger.

"Hey, hey, don't point that thing at me," the voice requested. The figure took one step forward, prompting Hitomi to point the Skorpion forward even more. However, the sliver of moonlight shining through the tree trunks revealed the identity of the figure. It was Enishi Tenken (Boy #13).

Giving off a sigh of relief, Hitomi lowered her gun and sat up. Her eyes remained on Enishi the whole time. Somewhat giggling, Hitomi though how lucky she was that it was Enishi who stumbled upon her. Enishi was a decent guy, not like the others Hitomi dated. He was actually kind and sincere and genuine too. Plus, he was cute. Enishi had medium-length, black hair that looked stylishly messy as if he purposely made it look disheveled. His lean body sported a clean white t-shirt and black jeans. Tied around his waist was the black track jacket Hitomi had seen him wearing earlier. Dropping his survival pack to the grass, Enishi sat down beside Hitomi.

"What are you doing out here?" Enishi asked.

"Hiding. What'd it look like?"

"Hiding."

A soft giggle escaped Hitomi's mouth and she looked over at Enishi. He was sitting quietly and calmly against the tree with his hands on his raised knees.

"What were you doing?" Hitomi questioned him.

"Me? Nothin, I was just walkin around," Enishi said casually. His relaxed attitude seemed strange to Hitomi. For someone being in a situation as grave as the one they were in, she expected him to act more serious. Instead he acted as if he was taking a walk around town like he usually did.

While driving around in her dad's car, Hitomi saw Enishi walking around town frequently. She usually saw him pacing back and forth along the river or just sitting there, staring up at the sky. Other times he was leaning against the rail of the boardwalk at the edge of town. Never did she see him with anyone else. People around school said they saw Enishi and Hiro hanging out together, but Hitomi never did. She constantly saw the two of them out of school, but never together. The question of them being gay together came up on her mind, but thought against it. Two guys as handsome as they were wouldn't be gay. Why would they? They could practically get any girl in school if they wanted. To Hitomi, though, it seemed like neither of them wanted anything to do with girls. Many times had Hitomi tried hitting on Enishi and flirting with him, but he never showed any kind of feelings for her other than friendship.

"Is that your weapon?" Enishi asked, pointing his chin towards the submachine gun in Hitomi's hand.

Hitomi raised the Skorpion to her face and answered, "Yup, this is what they gave me. Pretty lucky if I say so myself."

"Yeah, that's a pretty good gun – a Skorpion. Doesn't have as much power or range as other guns, but in a game like this, it's perfect. Plus, it can fire 850 rounds per minute. That's a lot if you think about it considering that gun's power. You can also use it as a single-shot or fully automatic. That's always helpful," Enishi informed her.

Smiling, Hitomi stretched her hand out towards Enishi.

"What?" Enishi wondered.

"Take it," Hitomi told him. "I have no use for it. Who am I gonna kill?"

"Saitou?" Enishi suggested with a friendly smile.

Saitou Takuya (Boy #15) was a jackass. He dated Hitomi for about six months. Their relationship was good and they appeared very much in love. But in truth, Saitou was cheating on her with some girl in Class B. He apparently hid that fact very well since none of Hitomi's friends knew and they practically knew everything about everyone's social life. The only way Hitomi actually found out was when she found a Polaroid picture taped onto her desk. Pictured in the photo was Saitou making out with the girl and sticking his hand down her pants. The photo surprised the hell out of Hitomi and she felt like bitch-slapping Saitou and his hoe. She only chose not to in fear of getting a smudge on her perfect record. If she knew was gonna end up in Battle Royale, though, she wished she did slap them both. Fortunately, Saitou was in their class and would die soon enough. Horrible as that thought was, Hitomi couldn't help but smile at it.

Hitomi laughed a little and replied, "As much as I'd love to, nah. Someone else can make that jackass kiss his life goodbye."

A charming smile formed over Enishi's smile. It was the same smile that made him so attractive and eye-catching. The smile was friendly and compassionate, but had a tinge of mystique to it. Along with his intensely glowing brown eyes, Enishi's smile was simply astounding.

Hitomi almost felt like making out or even having sex with Enishi, but at a time like this, the idea was sickening. She didn't want to be having sex while her classmates were dying. It just didn't sound right. To get the thought out of her mind, she shook the Skorpion and looked Enishi in the eyes.

"Are you gonna take it or not?" she asked. "My arm's getting sore."

Chuckling, Enishi took the Skorpion out of Hitomi's hands and placed it by his side. Gray steam drifted out of Enishi's mouth as he exhaled. Without looking at Hitomi, he asked, "You got any smokes on you?"

"Smokes? I didn't know you smoke," Hitomi recalled.

"I don't."

Hitomi couldn't help, but laugh out loud no matter how loud it was. She covered her mouth her right hand and continued shaking as she laughed. Shaking her head, she reached into her survival pack and drew out a pack of Wild Seven cigarettes. It was the one thing that made Hitomi imperfect. If she didn't smoke she was sure she'd be the only perfect girl in the world. After all, she was beautiful and she did get good grades. Still giggling, Hitomi tossed the pack of cigarettes to Enishi.

Enishi pulled out a single cigarette and held it in his hand. It was the first time he'd actually held a cigarette. The small, frail stick in his hand was the color of bone with a brown-colored tip. Flipping the cigarette around his finger a few times, Enishi stuck it in his mouth and turned to Hitomi to ask for a lighter. The girl was prepared for she stuck out her left arm and lit the cigarette. With the cigarette lit, Enishi took a long drag then exhaled. Smoke puffed out from his mouth for the very first time. Laughing at the thought of himself smoke, Enishi took another drag and formed an 'O' shape with his mouth. Exhaling, he puffed out 'O' shaped smoke.

Hitomi's face lit up with wonderment as she watched Enishi make 'O' shaped puffs of smoke. "How do you do that? I've always wanted to do it, but I just suck."

"Inhale the smoke and hold your breath. When you open your mouth, form an 'O' shape with your lips and exhale," Enishi instructed her.

Hitomi pulled a cigarette of her own from the pack of Wild Sevens and lit it with her green lighter. After taking a long drag of smoke, she held her breath and formed an 'O' with her mouth. As she exhaled, the smoke drifted out like it normally did. Making an annoyed expression with her face, she tried once more. Again, though, she failed. After numerous tries at puffing out smoke in the shape of an 'O', Hitomi grunted and tossed her cigarette to her feet. She raised her right foot over the cigarette butt and stepped on it.

A pause went through the grove and neither student talked for nearly two minutes. Neither Hitomi nor Enishi looked at one another as they quietly sat in the grove. Enishi flicked the cigarette away from his hand, but didn't bother stomping it out. If they were lucky, it would hopefully burn down the forest and just kill everyone all at once. Gazing up at the night sky, Enishi watched a bright star shoot by. As a kid, everyone was told to wish for something whenever you see a shooting star, but Enishi never got the point. What's the sense in wishing on a comic occurrence? They couldn't bring you a new bicycle or someone to love. They especially couldn't grant your wish of getting a new father, a better father, someone who didn't abuse you. Enishi cursed at the star in his head and closed his eyes to rest for a few minutes at least.

"Have you ever had sex?" Hitomi broke the silence.

Who would ask such an awkward question at a time like this? Enishi squinted his eyes and looked at Hitomi with confusion.

"What did you say?"

"Have you ever had sex? Are you a virgin?"

Embarrassingly, Enishi smiled and said, "No, I had sex once."

"With who?"

"I don't remember."

A shocked expression appeared on Hitomi's face and she shouted loud enough for anyone in the grove to hear, "You playboy!"

Laughing, Enishi replied, "It was a while ago and she doesn't live in Takami. Sorry if I have trouble remembering people I met only once."

"You only met her once?" Hitomi wondered. "Didn't you want your first time to be special? Didn't you want it to be someone you love?"

"I never really thought about it," Enishi revealed. "Sex wasn't really something I thought about a lot."

"Yeah right! All guys think about sex," Hitomi replied. "Twenty-four-seven, that's all you guys think about!"

"No it's not," Enishi argued. "Well not for me anyways."

"Well, what do you think about then?"

"I'd rather not say."

"Come on! This is the end of the world for us. You might as well spill all your secrets now," Hitomi exclaimed.

Smiling and chuckling, Enishi looked Hitomi in the eyes and said, "I never noticed how pretty you are."

Hitomi's face lit up bright red as she blushed. Enishi smiled and continued eying her. She had long, black hair that was worn down to her shoulders. Some of it up front was pulled back while the rest simply fell over her shoulders. Even through the encompassing darkness, Enishi could make out the black t-shirt she wore with the Kanji writing scrawled vertically on the left side. Taking his eyes off her, Enishi sat back against the tree and sighed.

Relaxing, Hitomi eased closer to Enishi and put her head on his shoulder. "Do you want to have sex?"

"Right now?" Enishi asked, confused. Her head still leaning on Enishi, she nodded. "Uh… are you sure? I mean, we're in the middle of a killing spree."

"If we're gonna end up part of the list of victims we might as well have sex, right?"

"What sense does that make?" Enishi wondered.

Hitomi shook her head and took Enishi's head with her soft hands. Pulling his face closer towards hers, she muttered, "Just take me."

The two underage students began making out, their hands and fingers crawling all over one another's bodies. Enishi grabbed the end of Hitomi's t-shirt and pulled it over her head. As he continued to kiss her, he saw the black bra she wore. While making out, Enishi unhooked Hitomi's bra. At the same time, Hitomi untied Enishi's jacket from his waist and unbuckled his belt before removing his jeans. Sliding his right hand down Hitomi's panties, Enishi pecked her neck several times. Hitomi took Enishi's shirt off and pulled his checkered, tan boxers off his legs. With his body naked, Enishi pulled off Hitomi's panties and penetrated her.

A soft moan left Hitomi's lips as her body began moving up and down in synchronization with Enishi's. Licking his lips, Enishi kissed Hitomi's chest as she rubbed her slender figure against his body. After what seemed like hours – thought it was really only a couple minutes – Enishi began to feel his appendage swell. Apparently, Hitomi was feeling the same way as her body bobbed up and down harder than ever. Gritting his teeth, Enishi held Hitomi's gentle curves with his thick hands. Minutes later, both let out a loud, satisfied groan and their bodies relaxed. Hitomi, who sat atop Enishi, slouched forward and laid her head against Enishi's right shoulder. Breathing exhaustedly, Enishi kissed Hitomi on the right cheek and pulled her into a strong embrace.

"How was it?" Hitomi asked, feeling great for the first time since the Battle Royale started.

"Great," Enishi replied with a wide grin on his face.

"That's good," Hitomi muttered, "considering this was my first time."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Was it with someone special?" Enishi asked, remembering what Hitomi had said earlier.

With a soft giggle, Hitomi answered, "Special enough."

Being in Enishi's hands was not something Hitomi planned to be in when she woke up today. There were a lot of things she didn't plan to be doing and this certainly wasn't one of them. Though as sick as it was, it felt wonderful. It was a great feeling to be having when you know you're gonna die within a matter of seventy-two hours. Suddenly, that feeling escaped her. The feeling she felt now wasn't wonderful at all. It was stinging and painful.

Jutting out from Hitomi's bare back was a four-foot long blade that shined in the moonlight. Blood laced the sharp edge of the blade and dripped to the lush, green grass. Hitomi stared down in horror at the katana stuck in her gut. What made it even more horrible was seeing Enishi holding it with a grin on his face. The sticky, red fluid trickled down Hitomi's thin belly and dripped onto Enishi's lap. With a sharp pull, Enishi forced blood to squirt uncontrollably from Hitomi's stomach. A groan unlike the pleasurable one from earlier emanated from Hitomi's bleeding mouth. As she lay on her side in unbearable pain, Enishi wiped the blood on his lap with Hitomi's black t-shirt and began to dress. He picked up his boxers and jeans and slid his legs into them. After tying the track jacket around his waist once more, Enishi looked down at Hitomi and pointed his designated weapon – the katana – at her face.

"Why?" Hitomi mouthed. Tears almost running down her face, she stared Enishi in the eyes, the same eyes she was staring into just a while ago when they were fucking.

"I'm sorry," was all he said. With his other hand, he aimed the Skorpion at Hitomi's face and pulled.

_RAT-A-TAT-A-TAT!_

Like Enishi said earlier, 850 rounds shot out of the Skorpion in the single minute he held onto the trigger. The bullets flew through the dry, humid air of the island and tore through Hitomi's face within seconds. The beautiful, young girl's head shook hysterically as the bullets pounded her skull and brain. Fragments of white bone poked out from her skin that was a creamy complexion only a minute ago, but was now crimson red. There was also a strange, gray matter that leaked out from the many holes in Hitomi's head. She looked like swiss-cheese now, with hundreds of holes in her head. She was completely unrecognizable; the only way one could identify her now was to check the reports for the Battle Royale.

Emotionlessly, Enishi stuck the Skorpion down his pants and sheathed his katana in the scabbard tied around the back of his black jeans. He walked a few paces over and shuffled through Hitomi's survival pack. Inside were the original contents of the survival pack, including the seven magazines, and some stuff she took from her own backpack. All Enishi picked up were the extra magazines and bottles of water, which he tossed into his survival pack.

Walking away from the corpse of Hitomi Kawamura, Enishi callously stated, "All the lucky ones die first." And boy was he right about that.

**39 Students Remaining**


	7. Chapter 5: Merciless

Chapter 5: Merciless 

Cerulean waves of ocean waters crashed against the jagged side of the cliffs on the southern tip of the island. Exploding, the waves turned into mist and drifted into the cool breeze of the wind. On the hill were a small field and a large tree at its peak. Leaning against the bulky tree was Keigo Arashi (Boy #19). His dark brown hair that reached his chin blew along with the wind and covered his brown eyes. He appeared to be wearing a dark blue fleece jacket with a black undershirt and blue jeans. On his feet was a pair of white and blue sneakers. His arms crossed over his chest as he silently leaned against the tree.

"Keigo!" someone yelled.

With a smile on his face, the star player of the basketball team turned to see his princess running towards him with a survival pack in hand. Ai Kanezawa (Girl #1) sprinted up the field and jumped right into Keigo's arms. The two embraced for what seemed like forever then kissed one another's lips. As they held each other, they fell on the soft ground and sat against the tree.

Before Ai left the classroom, Keigo was able to send her a message. He wasn't sure if she could tell what he meant, but now he was certain. Since Ai was the second person out and she sat at the front of the class, she was unable to send anyone a note or receive one. When she made her way out the classroom, she turned to the class with a somber expression. Before leaving, she and Keigo made eye contact. At that time, Keigo found the opportunity to send her a message. Hoping Mr. Yamamoto and the soldiers couldn't see him, Keigo mouthed the words 'meet at southern tip' towards Ai. Fortunately, she did understand the message. It must've taken her a while to reach the southern tip, though, since Keigo had been waiting for an hour now.

"What took so long, baby?" Keigo asked as he held Ai in his arms.

"I couldn't tell which way was south. Those government bastards gave me a broken compass," Ai answered, snuggling up close to Keigo. "I had to use my intuition to find this place."

"Well I'm glad your intuition's good or else I might've just killed myself," Keigo joked. Kissing Ai on the forehead, he smiled and whispered, "I love you."

"I love you too," she whispered back. For a while, everything seemed perfect and peaceful. It felt like neither Ai nor Keigo were a part of this twisted game they were being forced to play. The two lovers sat quietly, comforting one another. The feeling didn't last long, though.

After the brief pause, Ai asked, "What are we gonna do, baby?"

"What do you mean?" Keigo wondered, looking at Ai while holding her.

"About this game," Ai replied. "What do we do?"

"There are only two things to do. And that's kill or be killed," Keigo answered coldly.

"But I don't want to kill anyone."

"I know you don't. I don't either," Keigo said somberly. "I don't want to die though."

Nodding, Ai muttered, "Neither do I."

"Then it's settled, we'll play this game."

Surprised, Ai let go of Keigo's arms and sat up. Staring at him in the eyes, she asked, "What? You're willing to play?"

"For you I am," Keigo replied. It was almost romantic; only if he wasn't talking about killing others for her. "You don't have to play. Just stay by my side and I'll make sure you win."

"No, I can't do that, Keigo. I don't want you to kill anybody," Ai told him.

"Please, Ai, I don't want to kill any of our classmates, but I care about you too much to let you die. If killing everyone is the only way to protect you then I'll do it."

There was a brief pause. Ai and Keigo looked each other in the eyes. Ai's eyes were beginning to swell with tears while Keigo looked on without any emotion. He seemed really ready to kill anyone for Ai's sake. This Keigo was so different from the one Ai had met two years ago.

Though it was so long ago, the memory was so vivid in Ai. She was at cheer practice with her other friends. Cheer practice was usually outside, but it was raining that day so they split up the gymnasium. One half went to the cheerleaders and the other half went to the basketball team. There was going to be a huge game the next day so both teams were practicing hard so they could do well at the game. Regrettably, Ai had been sick for the whole week, but she wasn't one to miss cheer practice for a simple cold. While practicing a new routine, though, Ai's illness got the better of her and she collapsed. Luckily, her body hadn't been thrown up into the air yet or she really would've been dead. Since no one was home to come pick her up, Ai had to wait for cheer practice to end. Unconscious, she laid on the bench.

Meanwhile, Keigo accidentally landed wrong on his ankle and sprained it. He was cursing all the way to the bench as he hobbled on one leg. Sitting on the end of the bench with his left leg up, he cursed himself. Apparently, his angry voice was loud enough for Ai woke up and started looking around.

Keigo apologized for waking her, but she didn't mind it. She was struck by his caring attitude and handsome face. She reluctantly smiled at him and he smiled back. Since both were out for the rest of the practice, they sat at the bench talking and flirting with one another. Practice ended with Keigo's father giving her a ride home. All the way to her house, Keigo's father kept teasing him about having a girlfriend. Ai grinned widely and laughed at everything he said. The memory was a good one. It was one that Ai kept close to her mind and heart.

"Do you love me?" Keigo asked out of nowhere.

"Of course I do! You know that!" Ai reprimanded him.

"Then trust me to do this," Keigo said with tears building up in his eyes. "Please, I don't want you to die."

Leaning forward to kiss Keigo, Ai nodded her head and whispered, "Fine. Okay."

In the middle of the island was the main city. It was of average size and many buildings stood within it. However, everything was abandoned and though there were cars parked all around, all of them were drained of gas. The government obviously didn't want anyone attempting to escape the game. Connected to the main island by a short bridge was the residential area. It looked like a normal suburb with lots of nice-looking houses sitting around. There were also a fair amount of trees and hills in the residential area, but it was mostly composed of buildings. The only part of the residential area that seemed natural was the golf course and even that had been cultivated.

Creeping around in the abandoned city was a slender figure belonging to Rangiku Fujiwara (Girl #14). Unlike most of the girls in Class A who had black hair, Rangiku had dark brown hair. It was slightly curly but not frizzy. She wore it straight down, letting it fall over her soft shoulders. She was wearing a beige top and smooth, black pants under a black jacket. Around her shoulder was her army green survival pack and in her right hand was a wooden baseball bat. Though she was provided with a flashlight that worked, she didn't want to risk being seen by any of her classmates. While walking in the woods, looking for a place to hide, she heard people moving around, rustling in the bushes. After that, she decided to stay as undetectable as possible.

Though Rangiku didn't consider herself vain, she knew others didn't like her. She was quite popular among the socialites in school, but still not many people liked her. It was mainly because of her looks that made people either love her or hate her. Unfortunately for her, most of the kids in Class A hated her. Not that she was a mean or smug person; she just didn't get along with them very much. After all, she did steal most of the girls' boyfriends and broke the hearts of many of Class A's male students. That wasn't her fault though. It was those girls' own fault that their men left them for her. As for the guys, Rangiku never even went out with any of them, she just rejected them. Nonetheless, she was pretty much hated all around by her classmates. That's why she needed to be careful and stay cautious of anyone who crossed her path.

As she sneaked around in the shadows of the abandoned city, Rangiku saw something that intrigued her. A smile crossed her face and she stealthily snuck into the building. She had found a weapons shop. Hopefully some of the weapons were usable and extra ammo was lying around somewhere. A lot of the weapons were still in the display cases while others were hooked up on the back rack. There were also bulletproof vests hooked up on the rack while bullets lied around everywhere. Though there appeared to be many things left in the store, a lot of the stuff had already been pillaged. Quietly, Rangiku moved around the building, looking for weapons that could do real damage. Most of the powerful firearms were encased in display cases. Dust had formed over the cases over the many years the shop was abandoned. Rangiku took an extra shirt from her pack and wiped the display cases clean. She wanted so badly to smash the display cases in and just steal the weapons. However, her rational side told her that her classmates would definitely hear and come attacking her. Finally, she decided to listen to her devilish side and proceeded to smash the display cases in with her baseball at. Anyways, even if her classmates did hear, she could just blast them away with the weapons she'd find.

Raising the wooden bat above her head, Rangiku brought it down with a quick, powerful swing and destroyed the first display case. The items inside bounced up from the impact of the swing as the glass shards fell all around. Rangiku reached in and pulled out a Walther PPK pistol. It was a pretty strong gun considering its size and weight. Rangiku checked if the pistol had a cartridge of bullets and felt relieved when she found out it did. Sticking it in her pants, she found the extra ammo for it and tossed it in her survival pack. There were a few other guns in the display case, such as Colt M1911 and a GLOCK 19. Rangiku reached in to take them, but she stopped, hearing the sound of a gun cocking behind her.

Slowly, the dark brown-haired girl turned to see Kasumi Fukada (Girl #11) standing at the doorway of the shop. In her hand, which was extended and pointing towards Rangiku's face, was a small, compact gun. The gun was called a GLOCK 30 and was pretty reliable. Kasumi had a psychotic air about her. Though her hair was still in the bun she usually wore it in, several strands fell across her face and blocking her dark brown eyes. Kasumi was wearing a rainbow-colored tanktop and blue jeans with a white jacket.

"Throw your weapon to me," Kasumi ordered. She appeared cold and merciless as she motioned for Rangiku to toss the baseball bat to her.

Sighing, Rangiku turned the baseball bat around and threw it at Kasumi's feet.

"The gun too."

"What gun?"

"Don't act stupid, Rangiku! Give me the pistol you stole!" Kasumi demanded.

Rangiku rolled her eyes and pulled the Walther PPK out of her pants. Tossing it over to Kasumi, she asked, "You happy now?"

"Nope."

Suddenly, Kasumi pulled the trigger on her GLOCK pistol, firing a bullet past Rangiku's face. Kasumi was a good fighter, but she didn't know a thing about guns. She couldn't aim very well either for the bullet she fired barely grazed Rangiku's face. Once she pulled the trigger, it was like a signal for Rangiku. The brazen, young woman charged at her classmate and tackled her body to the ground. She then threw a punch at Kasumi's face and managed to hit her several times before Kasumi kicked her off. Kasumi lifted her right leg up and kicked Kasumi to the ground. With her mortal enemy on the ground, Kasumi pointed her gun at her face. Before she could fire, though, Rangiku kicked the gun out of her hand and kicked Kasumi in the face. Rolling backwards, Rangiku got to her feet and reached for her baseball bat. Kasumi saw her, though, and used her legs to grab Rangiku by the head and throw her aside. Rangiku crashed into the broken display case with much force and appeared knocked out. Thinking she had won, Kasumi picked up the Walther PPK Rangiku stole and put her finger on the trigger. With all her strength, though, Rangiku kicked Kasumi in the left ankle. A shattering crunch resonated through the shop coupled with Kasumi's agonizing scream. The Walther PPK dropped from her hand as she collapsed onto her knees. Grabbing the Walther PPK, Rangiku pointed it as Kasumi. She reached over Kasumi's screaming body and picked up her survival pack and baseball bat.

Rangiku slung the pack around her shoulder once more and stuck the baseball bat inside. Aiming the Walther PPK at Kasumi, she cocked it and opened her mouth to say something. Before she could say anything, though, Kasumi looked up at her with a heartbreaking look. Wincing as if she felt sorry for her, Rangiku looked away and pressed the trigger twice. Two vicious, hammering sounds emanated from the barrel of the gun and two bullets crashed into Kasumi's body. Eyes wide and mouth hanging, Kasumi fell backwards with a groan and laid still. Her body wasn't moving anymore. Rangiku stuffed the Walther PPK back in her pants and stepped over Kasumi's motionless body.

Surely someone heard all the commotion she and Kasumi made in the shop and come running. Rangiku decided it'd be best if she left immediately and found somewhere safe to hide.

Back in the weapons shop, Kasumi coughed hard and gasped for air. Her body flung up and she pressed her palm hard against her chest. Embedded in the holes made in her tanktop were the two bullets Rangiku fired into her. With her two fingers Kasumi proceeded to pull the bullets out, but they were still hot. Once they cooled down a bit, she picked them out and tossed them on the ground. Through the holes in the tanktop you could see the black and gray bulletproof vest she was wearing. Laughing, Kasumi picked up her GLOCK 30 and walked over to the display cases full of guns.

Someone's heavy breathing could be heard through the dark grove in the forest. Standing against a tree and holding her chest was Yuriko. In her left hand was a weapon with a flattened end. Yuriko remembered seeing it used on TV once and recalled what it was: a chisel. The chisel was about six inches long. The wooden handle was probably two-and-a-half inches long while the flat blade was three-and-a-half inches long. Yuriko had been running ever since she left the school and was tired out of her mind. She wanted to sleep, but the thought of dying was overwhelming her. She breathed heavily as she tried to calm her nerves.

Nothing could help though, especially since she heard someone following her. It was about ten minutes ago that she heard the person's feet running in the same direction as hers. She tried to outrun whoever it was, but the person was quite agile and followed her every move. Though she didn't want to stop with the person still following her, her body would've collapsed if she didn't.

It proved to be a bad decision, though, as someone plunged through the bushes, roaring. The person had some kind of thin string in his hands and wrapped it around Yuriko's neck. Using all his might, the person pulled the string. The life draining out of her, Yuriko heard the voice of one of the people she hated the most, the person who humiliated and ridiculed her her entire lifetime. It was Ando Akabane.

"Time to die, ugly bitch!" he menacingly whispered into Yuriko's ears as he pulled harder.

Fumbling around for a way to escape his deadly grasp, Yuriko remembered the chisel in her hand. Raising her left arm, she brought it down and thrust the chisel's flat blade into Ando's thigh. Shrieking crazily, Ando hopped up and down as he stared at the chisel stuck in his left thigh. Crawling away, Yuriko pulled the dental floss off her neck and coughed hard.

"You fuckin bitch! You stabbed me! Shit! Shit!" Ando hopelessly screamed. He seized the handle of the chisel with his right hand and pulled it with a groan. Groaning in pain, he threw the chisel at Yuriko and fell on his knees. "Fucking bitch!"

Scared out of her wits, Yuriko picked up the chisel and slapped Ando in the face with her survival pack. Something hard was inside the pack, causing Ando to fall to his side and faint. With her aggravator knocked out, Yuriko turned and sprinted out of the woods.

So people really were playing. Yuriko began to freak out as she thought of Ando once more. Tripping, she lay still on her chest and shook. The thought of her classmates coming to kill her rushed into her mind once more. Tears began to fall down her cheeks like a waterfall, but she wiped them away and forced the rest back in. Grunting, she picked herself up and gripped the chisel. If her classmates were going to try and kill her then she'd kill them too. It was all too simple. Kill or be killed. That's all there was to it. With an enlightened look on the game, Yuriko's appearance changed. Her dry lips contorted into an evil smile while her eyes widened. For Yuriko Kuriyama, the game had finally begun.

**39 Students Remaining**


	8. Chapter 6: Eyes Wide Open

Chapter 6: Eyes Wide Open

Three long, disparaging hours had passed since the beginning of this ruthless game, the game called Battle Royale. Two people had already died that the students knew about, but they were clueless to any other deaths that may have happened since the start. Truly, there were already three deaths. Several people had already gotten into confrontations, but luckily no one had killed anybody else yet except for Enishi.

At the moment everyone was wandering cautiously throughout the island. Some were sneaking through the forest while others were hiding in abandoned shacks and buildings. Not many people were in the city yet even though there were many abandoned places fit to hide in. Surprisingly, not many people were finding hiding spots. In the other Battle Royales that was the first thing students usually did. In this one, though, only about five or six students were in hiding.

Near the edge of the deserted city was a large subway station. It had large windows all around it, several of which were broken or cracked. There were four mechanic sliding doors, but none of them worked so to enter you'd have to pry them open. The exterior of the subway station was dirty and crusted with rust. White paint had scraped off the side, replaced by the silver of the steel used to build the colossal structure. It was strange that an island had a subway station. Although there were several places on the island, it would only take about ten minutes to walk from one spot to the next. There really wasn't a need for a subway. That didn't matter now though. The subway station was composed of two levels; the top level was the lobby where a passenger could buy tickets and wait for trains to come by and the lower level was where most passengers awaited arriving and departing trains. Holding the subway station up were several columns that were somehow still standing. Cracks in the stone beset the columns, but they were serious enough to actually do some major damage. There were also many cracks in the tiled floor that caused the floor to pop up in some places.

In the center of the subway station was a large counter where tickets could be purchased. Quite a few computers were set at the counter with chairs behind them. People were obviously meant to be working here. Wherever they were now was anybody's guess. Seated behind the counter was Hiro Kurosawa (Boy #21). He found the subway station about an hour ago and had been hiding in it since then. His back leaned against the counter while he bent his knees upwards. With one hand on his left knee and the other hand holding his assigned weapon, he rested. Though his eyes were open, he was asleep. It was an ability Hiro learned to perfect a while ago. It was eerie to see someone sleeping with their eyes open, but it was helpful.

The night was burning hot even though a slight breeze was blowing throughout the island. It was a humid, tropical heat that made everything smell worst. The air even smelled rancid. Though the corpses of Ichigo Yagami, Yamato Sakai, and Hitomi Kawamura were far, far away from the subway station, their stenches had drifted all through the island. That was one of the main reasons Hiro snuck into the subway station. He wanted to get away from the sickening odor, but unfortunately, it drifted through the broken windows. On his way in, Hiro cursed the smell and tried his best to stop smelling it. There was no cure for that though.

Hiro had only been sleeping for seven minutes when the stench of death awoke him. It smelled like the wind carried the stench and past right by Hiro's nose. He cringed and stood up to stretch. Cracking his knuckles, he surveyed the room. No one else had come in for the door he pried open with his bare hands was closed. Hiro made sure to close the door once he entered the subway station so no one would think he was inside. Though he probably got about ten or more hours of sleep before waking in the classroom, Hiro was remarkably tired. His mouth opened wide as a yawn past through his teeth. Clasping his mouth with his left hand, Hiro sat back down. He unzipped his survival pack and brought out a bottle of water. The bottle had yet to be opened so Hiro broke the seal off of it and pressed the quarter-sized hole to his lips. Cool water rushed out of the bottle and hit his tongue and gums. Hiro finished drinking and licked his lips before twisting the bottle cap over the top of the water bottle. Placing the water bottle back into his pack, Hiro leaned his head back against the counter.

Of all the people in this sick game, Hiro was probably the calmest. He seemed to have no problem being placed in this situation even though he knew how wrong it was. Truth be told, Hiro was actually the perfect person to be put into the Battle Royale. He wasn't close at all to his classmates and was in peak physical condition. Hiro was the fastest kid in Class A and was probably the strongest or second strongest. During the class' fitness tests in gym class, he got near perfect scores, awing his classmates. Hiro didn't think much of it though; to him it was just another grade. The only thing that could ruin Hiro's chances in Battle Royale was his morality. The boy was incredibly just and hated seeing people be wronged. If it wasn't for that, Hiro surely would've won the game by now.

The thought to win this thing never came across Hiro's mind though. All he could think about at the moment were his friends, the ones he lost last year. A solemn, gloomy look appeared on his face as he thought about them. Looking up at the darkness of the ceiling, he could almost see their faces staring down at him. They all smiled even though Hiro knew they were in pain. Hanging his head low, Hiro reached into his back pocket and pulled out a black leather wallet. The wallet had several bills stuck inside and a few coins. There was also a credit card and other sorts of cards stuck in the card slots. Stitched into the binding of the wallet were several plastic covers for photographs. There were no photos in the covers, though, save for one. It was slightly wrinkled and the color was beginning to wear away. What it showed was clear as day though. Photographed were Hiro and other kids his own age. Hiro was actually smiling and he was smiling wide. His arm was around a beautiful young girl's shoulders, who wrapped her arm around Hiro's waist. Beside Hiro was a teenage boy grinning with his thumbs up. Clinging onto the grinning boy's back was a shorter boy who was wearing wide-rimmed glasses. He was smiling almost as much as the grinning boy. Behind the girl next to Hiro was another girl who wore a short skirt. She had her arm around the girl and Hiro and smiled cheerfully at the photographer. A small teardrop fell onto the middle of the wrinkled photograph and slipped down onto Hiro's hand. He snuffled and wiped his eyes dry.

_CLUNK! _

Hiro's head snapped to the side and he stuck the wallet back into his pocket. Picking up the switchblade next to him, Hiro slowly stood up. From the counter he could see someone at the doorway he had opened earlier. Although the person's face couldn't be seen, Hiro could tell it was a girl. The person had a slightly large frame, but Hiro could also see breast pressed up against the door. No guys in his class had a body like that, Hiro was sure. The person was trying hard to open the door. Whoever it was, she wanted to get in real badly. She began pounding the glass with her closed fist constantly. Finally, she managed to smash the glass of the door open with what looked like a chisel. It took several tries, but she managed to do it. Carefully, she stepped into the subway station and looked around.

With her trusty, bloodstained chisel, Yuriko managed to break into the subway station. After getting away from Ando Akabane, Yuriko headed for the city. The abandoned city seemed like a place where the students would hide, but no one was there. How strange. Yuriko wandered around for maybe thirty minutes before spotting the large subway station. It looked like the perfect place to hide and appeared as if no one had chosen to hide in it yet. Even if somebody was hiding there, Yuriko was sure she could kill them. All she'd have to do is plunge her chisel straight into their neck or head and they'd be dead. It would be that easy. Smiling at the simplicity, Yuriko began wandering around the subway station. Simplicity – it was something Yuriko liked. She hated when things got complicated. She always thought things were better off left simple and easy. The easy wasn't as rewarding, but at least you could things done faster.

As Yuriko looked around the subway station, one of the tiles that had popped up from the floor caused her to trip. Her feet stumbled around and her slightly chubby body crashed onto the tiled floor. A few weakened tiles shattered as she landed hard on them. Grunting, she used her chisel to help herself back up to her feet.

So far, so good. No one appeared to be in the subway station. There was no one near the credit card stations and vending machines and no one near the rows of orange chairs. All Yuriko had to search through now was the front counter. It was fairly large and squared the center of the subway station. A part of the counter flipped back and forth when it was moved. It was like one of those doors in saloons from old cowboy movies. Yuriko liked those kinds of movies. It was all about the cowboy entering town, causing a little trouble, and having a shootout with the local posse. That was simple and simple was good. Yuriko planned to do things like that.

She pushed the moving door and stepped into the counter. Just as she walked behind the counter, she saw an indistinguishable figure sitting in a corner. It was hard to tell whether or not the figure was dead, but as she got closer, Yuriko could tell it was breathing. Though softly, it was breathing nonetheless. The figure was wearing a white hoody and black jeans; he blended in perfectly with the counter. The counter was white and cast a long shadow. If Yuriko didn't see the figure bobble up and down like a log floating in a river, she wouldn't have been able to tell it apart from the counter and its shadow.

Luckily, the figure appeared to be sleeping. Yuriko readied her chisel and grinned madly. The insanity of the Battle Royale had obviously gotten to her as evidenced by her looks. Lunging forward, she stuck the chisel out before her. Suddenly, the figure moved swiftly and rolled out of the way. Yuriko landed on one knee and turned to her prey. It was a boy, but who it was, she couldn't tell. Yuriko charged at him once more and swung the chisel wildly in front of her at her opponent's face. The boy dodged every attack made at him, though. Yuriko couldn't tell, but the moonlight shining through the windows showed his right hand thrust forward with a switchblade in it. The blade dug deep into Yuriko's stomach and made her wince. Quickly, she backed away from her opponent and climbed on top of the counter. Waving her hand in a welcoming motion, she ordered the boy to come at her.

Promptly, the boy leaped at her, the moonlight revealing his identity. It was Hiro Kurosawa, the only person who showed her compassion. Though he said only two words, they were enough to convince Yuriko he was being genuine and sincere. Frozen in her tracks, Hiro was able to slash her again. This time, the cut wasn't as deep, but it caused Yuriko to fall off the counter. She was about to stand, but Hiro's body came out from behind the counter and landed on top of her. Hiro pointed the switchblade at her face, but didn't do anything more.

"I'm not trying to play this game," Hiro warned her, "so if you want to live then leave."

Even after she'd tried to kill him, he was still showing compassion. He was giving Yuriko the chance to escape with her life in tact. No doubt it was a true charitable act. However, Yuriko planned on using this opportunity to get her first kill. Dropping the chisel from her hand, Yuriko raised her palms in front of her. Hiro nodded and let her up, even helping her. Yuriko dusted herself off then picked up the chisel.

"I'm sorry I attacked you," she lied, feigning deep regret. "I… I was just afraid. I thought you were gonna kill me if I didn't kill you first."

"No problem," Hiro replied. "Just leave now."

Nodding, Yuriko turned and walked to the doorway. As she slowly walked to the exit, she heard Hiro sigh and turn around. Almost as quickly as she had lied, Yuriko spun around and leaped at Hiro with her chisel. Hiro turned and had no time to react; the flat blade of the chisel scraped his cheek, drawing blood. When Yuriko turned to leave, Hiro closed his switchblade. Now that he thought about it, it was a bad idea for he was unable to flip it back out. Yuriko's speed was incredible for someone her size and frame. Her hand moved about like a buzzing wasp attempting to sting something. Hiro did his best to evade, but he was caught by the chisel's blade a few times. Yuriko managed to push Hiro's back against the counter and raised the chisel for the killing blow. Reluctantly, though, Hiro ducked and punched his fist deep into Yuriko's gut. The girl's eyes widened now more than ever as the air was knocked out of her. Her body dropped to the floor and she clutched her aching stomach. Hiro ran around her and finally flipped open the switchblade.

Catching her breath, Yuriko angrily turned and tried stabbing Hiro again. Hiro was too fast for her, though, and easily evaded her attacks. Yuriko's speed had severely gone down ever since Hiro punched her. As Hiro dashed around his opponent, he swung his blade at her. One powerful swipe caught her across the chest, cutting open the blue t-shirt she wore. Angrily, Yuriko swung her chisel again at Hiro, who dodged the flat blade. Like a ferocious animal hunting down its prey, Yuriko charged straight at Hiro and leaped at him. Taken aback by her random attack, Hiro fell to the ground with Yuriko on top of him. With both hands, Yuriko slammed the chisel down at Hiro's head. The flat blade came so close to Hiro that he could feel the air around him being pushed down. Though Yuriko's speed was impressive, Hiro's was even faster. He dodged the blade being brought down on his face each time. It looked pretty easy, but it was actually quite hard considering Hiro's body from the neck down was immobile.

"Why won't you die?" Yuriko shouted as she brought the chisel down one final time.

Hiro managed to dodge it again, though, and bit into Yuriko's hand. His sharp teeth touched flesh and ripped through it. Screaming in pain, Yuriko raised her left hand and squeezed it. The blood wouldn't stop dripping out, scaring Yuriko. The girl had never bled this much before so she wasn't used to it. Holding it tightly, she searched for Hiro. She found him running towards the stairs that led to the lower level. Before he could run down the stairs, though, Yuriko jumped onto his back and clung onto it like her life depended on it. Though she could have easily killed Hiro then, she had dropped her chisel. Instead, she used her bare hands to try and suffocate Hiro. The mysterious transfer student proved too much, though, as he threw Yuriko down over his shoulders and onto her back. As her body crashed into the floor with a loud thud, the air escaped her lungs and she felt lightheaded. Her killing fury got the best of her, however, and she reached up to grab Hiro's throat. With her remaining strength, she squeezed the life out of her classmate.

Yuriko's grip on his throat was too hard. Hiro could not find a weak spot in it and could do nothing but let it take him. His head began to feel light and he started to lose consciousness. It felt just like when he first fell asleep on the bus. His eyelids began to close against his will and his body got heavy. As he began to drift away from the mortal world, Hiro could see his friends staring at him with sad faces. What do you want? What does this mean? Hiro wanted to leave, but they forbade him. It was as if they wanted him to live a little longer to just kill his classmates.

"What do you want from me?" Hiro uttered. He looked high up at the ceiling and gritted his teeth in anger. Suddenly, the pressure against his neck dissipated and Yuriko's arms dropped to the floor. Confused and wondering what just happened, Hiro felt something warm and sticky on his hands. Looking down at them, he realized he cut her throat open with the switchblade. Crimson red liquid was flowing from her neck as she gurgled hopelessly. Standing up off her body, Hiro dropped the switchblade to the floor and stared at his hands. Blood dripped from the tips of his slender fingers and blotted the floor. Down on the floor, Yuriko stared into Hiro's eyes as she died.

As her last seconds on Earth faded away, Yuriko could only think of her brother, Shino. She wished she had a chance to at least say goodbye, but all she could utter was a helpless moan drowned out by blood. The last thing she saw before dying was Hiro's eyes; even when having killed someone they still showed concern and kindness. It made Yuriko smile, but that smile soon disappeared as her body relaxed and her heart stopped beating.

His heart beating faster than light, Hiro bent over to reach for his switchblade. The sound of a gun cocking to his right prompted him to stop though. Sighing, he stood up straight and turned in the direction of the cocking gun. At the top of the staircase leading up from the bottom floor were Tetsuo Kaneda and some girl he didn't know. Tetsuo stood behind the girl like a pet while the girl pointed her gun at him. Beretta 92F – it was a good gun. Even in the face of death, Hiro managed to find something nice. Chuckling to himself, Hiro raised his hands in alarm and shook his head.

As cows cawed outside, several gunshots rang off in the subway station, frightening the crows away from the large building.

**38 Students Remaining **


End file.
